I’m renting an apartment in Dublin city centre. It is a lovely apartment but for a few months now we’ve had a terrible stench in our hallway. We’ve notified our landlord and were told it would be sorted. However, it has been nearly five months.
Fortunately, the stench does not seem to enter into our apartment, but it is awful to have our hallway smelling badly. Is there anything we can do? Should we approach the management company directly or do we need to have the landlord approach them?
As regards who should contact the owners’ management company (OMC), or any managing agent in place, normally the relationship is between the property owner and the OMC so you were right to go through the landlord in the first instance. You could check with the landlord that they did forward the matter to the OMC and, if so, you could ask them to follow up for an update.
However, as it is an on-site matter, and given the length of time that the issue has been going on, it would not be inappropriate for you to contact the managing agent directly to ask that they send someone out to investigate the matter. You could offer to meet the property manager to explain the matter.
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You don’t specify the nature of the smell but obviously that will be important information for the OMC as regards identifying the source of the problem and how to deal with it. You should also note if the smell gets more or less intense over the course of the day or the week.
The smell could be coming from the common areas of the development or from another apartment. The OMC should be able to quickly investigate the common areas and address any issue arising there, such as an electrical issue, a dead bird or rodent in a vent, some food waste left in common area storage, or a malodorous carpet and so on.
If the smell is coming from another apartment the first task will be for the OMC to identify the source and cause. If it is due to a property-related problem (such as a plumbing issue or damp) then there may be a standard course of action. If the source is inside an apartment, the obligation to make this repair will likely fall back on the owner of that apartment. As such, the OMC would need to request that this repair be done quickly by the relevant unit.
The issue could also arise due to the behaviour of residents, and this can be harder to address. For example, you may have neighbours who are heavy smokers or who cook food using strong spices, while not having proper ventilation in their apartments. These kinds of issues are raised regularly with managing agents and can be sensitive as people may adopt the view that they are entitled to smoke or cook whatever they want in their own home. The managing agent can, however, note how their behaviour impacts on other residents and can potentially suggest practical solutions, such as that they smoke on their balcony or leave a window open while cooking.
In my experience, most apartments in Ireland do not have good ventilation. Indeed, for almost all owners of apartments built pre-2010 that still have their original vents in place, an upgrade of these would now be beneficial. There are various products on the market in this regard and it is possible to install vents in bathrooms that operate on a “trickle” basis, meaning they work all the time, and have a low electricity cost. Good ventilation in kitchens and bathrooms reduces smells and helps to reduce condensation.
Regarding the hallway, if it has a window the OMC could allow this to be opened with appropriate health and safety restrictors. If the above approaches don’t work, then it may be required for the OMC to ask a chartered surveyor or architect to investigate the issue.
Finbar McDonnell is a chartered property manager and a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland
