Ventilation issues in my rented room. Enough for early termination of a contract?

[Stephanlloyd]

Hi, Im new to these forums but I hope this is in the right place.

I am renting a room off a landlord that has incredible ventilation issues. The room has a door from the kitchen and double glass doors onto the garden, however these doors do not open. I have contacted the landlord several times and he refuses to fix the door for no apparent reason but he said he may put a passive vent in the door (noway near acceptable for me). He has kindly left me a hammer to smash the windows in an emergency however as the doors are double glazed it will be hard work I imagine! The issue I have is even when it was cold I had to have a fan on constantly to get any aeration. Now the weather is heating up the room is becoming almost sauna like and all a fan does is blow hot air around the room. I have also contacted the previous tenant whose contract I took over as I assumed the doors would open when I saw the room. He said that the landlord said he would send a locksmith round several times to no avail. He didn't tell me about the doors as he knew no-one would take the room if they knew the truth.

I ask anyone who has any knowledge on these things if it is a legal requirement that there is an open window in a rented room. I have found a Northern Ireland website which states this but the rules may be different in England.

 

It looks like I may be able to get early termination anyway as my landlord has not protected my deposit after nearly two months so I am looking at this avenue, however the more options I have the better as I am determined not to let him walk all over me.

 

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

Stephan

[Mr.P]

I would suggest contacting your local Fire Safety Officer (Fire & Rescue Service) - There must be safe exits from all rooms in the event of a fire, and doors/windows that can not be opened are likely to be in breach of the requirements. In addition, the landlord is required to install and maintain working smoke detectors and provide fire extinguishers (the number and type is dependant on property type/size).

[Stephanlloyd]

Thank-you for the reply, it is appreciated, I will call them on Monday.