Rent reduction during repairs

Hi there,

I have some rising damp in a basement bedroom (part of which is below ground). It's affecting a small corner of the room (about 1m x 1m) and has caused the carpet to become mouldy which I've cut out. I'm thinking of ripping out the whole carpet and painting a moisture barrier on the concrete floor to divert the water elsewhere.

This will require the room to be vacant for a period, maybe up to a week. I'll reduce the rent by one bedroom for at least this period. The room is currently sub-tenanted, but I can do the job when the current sub-tenants move out in a few weeks. The head tenants are saying the room isn't desirable and has dampness and mould issues in its current state, so they won't be able to find a sub-tenant till after the repairs, and so want an extra 4 weeks reduction on top of the time for repairs.

I'm trying to work out what might be reasonable rent reduction in these circumstances. Thanks very much in advance for any of your thoughts.

 

I guess it is the same with anything, you may need to find some common ground. Is the current sub tenant moving specifically because of the dampness? Are you at risk of losing the tenants over a few dollars?

It sounds to be essential repairs. One week for repairs, one week goodwill?

 

No, moving out for personal reasons. Yep I was considering a week of goodwill. I'm not aware of any legally binding requirement to provide a reduction for potential economic loss.

 

@Foobles

Painting on a membrane won't work in most cases due to the pressure on the membrane being on the wrong side (membranes hold water in). Depending upon the structure a product like Krystol may be a solution otherwise you need to tank the outside of the building so you have positive pressure on the membrane.

 

Or use a product like thishttp://www.crommelin.com.au/range/industry-and-trade/flooring/WB2K/

But always better to fix the problem as Scott no mates suggests.