Can I withhold rent for this?

[rainbow_brite]

Hi there.

A little while ago I posted in this forum regarding a flooring problem that I had. Since then my housing association finally agreed to send someone out to investigate the problem, and I've now been told that I need to wait whilst they fight out who is responsible for paying - Signpost or the developers.

The thing is that my asthma was being aggravated to a huge extent by the floor having been ripped up - it was mouldy underneath and the spores were making me ill. Since I couldn't afford to pay out for more medication, I've been forced to spend most of my time living with my grandparents. This has meant that not only am I paying for a flat that I can't inhabit but also I'm being forced to spend out a lot of extra money on petrol each week getting to and from work.

My question is basically this;

Can I stop paying my rent until the problem is sorted? I don't understand why I should be paying to live somewhere that I can't actually live in. Also keeping in mind that I'm giving my grandparents a little something to cover my being able to stay in their house - I have almost nothing to live on after paying out for all of this. At the very least I'm hoping that a threat of not paying rent will shock them into working faster to resolve the issue (It's been five weeks since the inspection already).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,

thank you.

[old_andrew2007]

bump

[poochball]

Bump.

The only suggestion I can make is to ask Environmental Health to come out and inspect the property due to the mould on the floor.

They will then advise whether the house is inhabitable. If so then I am pretty sure your housing association will pick up speed in resolving the issues.

With regards to witholding rent, I am not sure if it would be a good idea to withold it. Rather I would write a letter once the issue is resolved to the housing associations head office to ask for a refund due to the problems.

I am sure someone will be along shortly who can advise further.

[waterbottle]

If you house is unfit for habitation, then no rent is due. I'm fairly confident that this is the case.