Looking for a sense check please as I feel like I’m losing my mind!!
We rent a ground floor flat and have been drying our washing outside the front of the property on a clothes horse. We’ve now been told by property management that we MUST not dry washing outside and should instead dry it indoors or “even in the bathroom”.
The issue is.. we already have mould and condensation problems. Before going on holiday recently we wiped everything down and came back to visible mould across multiple areas (and we sent photos to them).
Our bathroom is tiny (no bath, barely floor space for a clothes horse) and the extractor fan is not even working properly. Property management say the landlord thinks it was replaced, but they have no records and are now asking us to confirm.
We have contacted them multiple times about this and their only solutions are:
- Open windows “even only ajar” (in winter, with rising energy bills, on a ground floor flat with fire windows that don’t latch). We’re out all day every day for work so this is completely out of the question.
- Buy multiple small dehumidifiers ourselves and place them around the windows (yes, we have to purchase them ourselves!!)
They’ve also acknowledged that other flats in the same block are drying washing outside — I’ve seen at least three — but say they “won’t discuss other properties” and are only concerned with ours, which feels pretty targeted.
We’re paying high rent, already ventilating as much as realistically possible (trickle vents open 24/7, heating set appropriately), and now being told to dry washing inside despite existing damp and mould. They’re also implying the cost of managing this (dehumidifiers, higher heating bills) should fall to us!!!
Am I being unreasonable in thinking it’s not fair or enforceable to ban drying washing outside purely due to ‘aesthetics’ (they’ve not given us a better reason). And they can’t insist we dry it inside when it’s actively worsening mould
This feels like a landlord/property issue, not the fault of our lifestyle!
Would love thoughts, especially if anyone’s dealt with similar.