AIBU re Estate agent and 'condensation'

[StudentMumArghh]

Morning all,

I had an inspection carried out the other day in the house I'm currently renting.
The EA noticed the damp/'condensation' on the bathroom ceiling, particularly in the corners. I pointed out that the specks of mould were there upon moving into the property and have been recorded on the inventory by an inspector.
EA agent said to me that I need to keep my bathroom window open at all times and to get some bleach and clean the ceiling.
I pointed out that keeping the bathroom window open all the time isn't an options a) it's too bloody cold b) it's a security issue. I also said I wouldn't be scrubbing any ceiling and if they want it cleaned they need to get someone else to do it as a) it was a problem that should have been dealt with prior to me moving in and b) at 5"2 there's no way I could reach the ceiling anyway!

WIBU?

Epcs are available and no really bad properties can be legally let from April without a lot of legal hoop jumping. Hopefully people are paying attention to this.

The tenant seemed to think Victorian basement flats should miraculously look after themselves and we spent a fortune on damp surveys and experts going in. All for them to tell her the same things - open the windows, put heating on and don’t put all your wet clothes on the radiators with no ventilation and use the dehumidifiers provided. She refused and said she didn’t want to use the heating or electric. I was beyond livid as she continued to blame us for something she could prevent.

Why should the tenant (who was presumably paying you a lot of money to rent her home from you) have to spend even more money on heating/dehumidifier because your rental property has unsatisfactory ventilation/structure? Surely if you had mould yourself you should know the property is prone to mould. Do you know how much a dehumidifier costs to run (it's expensive!) and why should she keep windows open in winter when it is cold and she could be burgled to protect your property from mould. Ridiculous.

YABU. We get this in DS’s bedroom in a hard to reach corner. A quick squirt of Cillit Bang Black Mould remover once every few weeks is all that’s needed to keep it at bay.

I haven’t rtft but I own a flat which I let. We had ongoing issues for years with condensation based damp in a couple of rooms. Some tenants managed it well others not.

Eventually after trying anti mould paints etc and all the usual remedies we installed a positive flow ventilation system and the problem has gone. It’s left on low at all times. If the tenants want to dry washing they can switch it up though that’s a bit noisier.

It was expensive but has made a vast difference. That said, the first tenants managed for five years without any issue. Opening a window regularly ventilates perfectly well.

I think the problem is that new builds can be "sealed boxes" - so no need to put on heating or open windows, but older type properties, such as ours and the previous poster's Victorian basement, do need windows opening and the heating turned on. Which, I think, most normal people do anyway?

We have had good landlords who were thoughtful, and awful ones who though that we should pay them money for old rope.

sometimes IME the old condensation thing is wheeled out because it is a way of shifting responsibility (and costs) on to tenants.

Landlords are legally liable for adequately maintaining the structure of the property. That means ensuring security, no leaky roofs, adequate insulation and anot efficient enough boiler to actually heat the house reasonably economically.

We had a landlord once telling us it was all about opening windows and having the heating on and yet.... her bodger handyman had painted most of the windows shut, the ones that were openable were large ground floor windows without a lockable catch, the gutters were broken causing water ingress from outside, the boiler although safe was 20 years old and cost us a fortune to run for little benefit, and the house had no damp course.

All that is a long winded way of saying it may be the tenant's fault or there may also be structural or design causes.

And I don't see why a tenant should have to clean up mess that should have been dealt with by the landlord. You can bet the previous tenants were reprimanded for not adequately cleaning on departure.

YY beelzbubble. I always hope when I see posts of that stripe that the landlord of the property has factored the extra running costs into the rent and amended accordingly. Otherwise it certainly wouldn't be appropriate to expect the tenant to be paying the costs of running dehumidifiers and extra heating, in order to keep the property warm whilst windows are open.

Now obviously if the LL does get this and is reducing the rent to reflect their expectations of the tenant, totally fair enough. But saying to the tenant if you don't like it, find another property could equally be applied to those of you who have freely chosen to purchase and let out properties that are poorly ventilated...

What a nice person you sound.

Take some responsibility. It is you living in there making the problem worse. Just buy a sponge mop, spray some mould cleaner on it and mop ceiling. It will take you 2 minutes every couple of weeks.

FFS why would you want to live like that when you don’t have to?

Being told to leave your window open is ridiculous, it’s frosty here today

My bathroom window stays slightly open all year round, apart from the occasional really cold (subzero) day. As others have said, if you're worried about the cold you can just close the bathroom door.

If you're talking about leaving a window open constantly, I suspect people are more worried about potential invalidation of insurance in the event of burglary than the cold. After all, as you point out, the temperature can be dealt with. Insurers not paying out because you left a window open when you were out, less so. People need to be able to secure the property when they're not there.

Dettol do a spray that you don’t have to scrub after.
You spray and the mould disappears and stays away for a few weeks.

Beelz if you don’t do those things then you get mould. It was a recently renovated flat.** Just needed looking after properly. With a management company who regularly maintained it. We bought her the dehumidifiers and paid for all the experts to go round. They said it was condensation not damp. We sold it as I’m clearly not cut out to be a landlord but what else are you meant to do with a listed building???

I once had a landlord who advised me not to dry laundry in the flat. Given that there was no tumble dryer or washer dryer, no outside space.....I was tempted to reply saying that was no problem, I of course dried all my laundry in another flat I specifically rented for that purpose down the street. Bear in mind this is London and we were paying this guy not far short of 2 grand a month. I asked him to install an extractor fan in the kitchen. He said he felt that would be an excessive demand and refused.

I am afraid in very many cases rental properties do not have decent facilities for laundry and drying, or for ventilation. This causes huge hassle and expense for the tenant. Of course it is lifestyle, cooking, washing and laundry create moisture. The issue is the suitability of a property to cope with normal lifestyle.