Water leak and damp wall in Serviced Apartment

[pb1234]

I'm currently in a modern Serviced Apartment in Sheung Wan, and came back this evening to find a big puddle of water on the floor next to the window. The section of wall beneath the window was soaked with water, and the plaster was beginning to peal off / fall away. The water seemed to be coming from behind the wall itself, as opposed to from any obvious leak around the window / windowsill. On this same wall is an electricity outlet which, thankfully for now, was not directly beneath the soaked section of wall.

I'm clearly concerned from a safety point of view (electrical outlet), and also from a health point of view (damp / mould), as I am effectively paying a premium to live in a constantly damp apartment. It also occurs to me that this is not going to be a simple fix, as the problem I can imagine is to do with a leak on the external wall into the building, and any fix will take time (this is on a high floor) and disruption.

I have now reported this incident to the management staff and am awaiting someone from the daytime staff to respond tomorrow.

I wanted to know what people thought my rights were in this situation in terms of what I can reasonably expect from them in terms of a remedy. I am on a 6 month contract (in return for favourable financial terms) and when I moved in 3 months ago, I did notice some faint colouring on this wall and small bits of the plaster that had come away. I raised this with them at the time and they said it was nothing, just some old wear and tear. I asked if there was a damp problem in the apartment and they said no at the time. To note, the serviced apartment is run a bit like a hotel and they do have other identical apartments (as well as more traditional hotel rooms).

I know the obvious thing is to look at the contract, but there isn't anything in there which obviously covers "significant damage" to the apartment. Is there somewhere I can get official consumer advice in HK on this matter or does that not exist here? Does anyone else have any similar experiences to this? I am placing a significance on the fact its a serviced apartment and not a regular long term let, and hence, I have expectation for a response over and above that of a regular landlord, for the premium that I am paying.

Looking forward to your points of view on this!

[Drunken Master]

Can't advice you on your rights but I recommend to take pictures of the damage and register all contact with the management in a logbook.

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[HK_Katherine]

Last night was particularly bad rain, it may not necessarily be a regular leak. And even if it is, management are going to say "last night was particularly bad rain".....!

[TheBrit]

I expect you are shit out of luck - unless there is some clause in your lease that lets you break it then you're not going to get anywhere politely asking to be released. Drunken Masters advice is good, but ultimately I think it's unlikely you'll get any remedy apart from waiting for it to dry out and having it superficially re-plastered over.

[DeannaX]

I wonder if there is a possibility of switching to a different apartment within the same building for the duration of the contract. This is assuming the other apartment has no damage. It would certainly be a bit of a hassle, but if you are really worried about the safety and health issues, it might put you at ease.

[usehername]

I should think they'll just move you to an equivalent room. Especially if you threaten to go public with the details

[Claire ex-ax]

The electrical wiring will be in a conduit.

[pb1234]

Thanks everyone for he sound advice.

I managed to have a constructive conversation with the management and have negotiated a way forward that resolves the issue to all parties satisfaction but also addresses the disruption this will cause me. Basically it's a move to a temporary room on the same floor whilst they get people in to fix the issue, along with a small amount of financial payback. So fingers crossed it all gets sorted soon!


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[TheBrit]

Excellent news, I thought you wouldn't get anything so I am glad it is being resolved in a proper fashion.

[pb1234]

Excellent news, I thought you wouldn't get anything so I am glad it is being resolved in a proper fashion.

Am tempted to name them for positive promotional purposes (I would have done the same if they'd not been constructive!) but maybe I'll wait till it's all resolved before I do that!


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