To clarify exactly what a council house looks like

[Lifegoeson5]

So many posts about council housing and 'benefit scroungers' getting 'free' housing.
I pay £150 a week for this...

@Lifegoeson5 I must say I constantly get rid of the condensation, heating on, windows open and karacher them so we don't have a mould problem and I clean them every day maybe try that?

That's awful. Is the council responsible for the repairs or are you? If it's them, keep on at them! I had two elderly great aunts who lived in a council house and from what I remember it was quite nice and the council did all the repairs. But I don't know if that's because they were elderly. They even used to cut their grass when they were going round doing the verges. If the repairs are up to you, I think you can get dehumidifiers for under £50 from Aldi. Cheap poly filler etc from Wilkinsons. The boiler will probably cost a lot though 😟 I hope you can get it sorted

I don’t see anything really wrong with it. It just needs a clean.

This is in my council house. Doesn't matter how much I clean it. It never goes away. Has been reported several times and I have never had a response. My windows are opened on a daily basis and the heating is on twice a day.

Where else are you going to be able to rent a house for 7 people for £150 a week OP? If it's a 3 or 4 bedroom, in the area I live in, you'd be looking at, at least £1000 a month and it's not an expensive area or London or anywhere remotely expensive to rent. Try buying a house and having to spend £50,000 on it to make it look nice and the value drop over £20k in 5 years. Hire a handyman for a couple of days to fill the cracks and paint the walls, give the window sills etc a good scrub and have a shower fitted for about £200. Problem solved.

To those saying 'i wish i had a council house instead of private renting' I'm giving mine up soon if you wanna swap??

That makes no sense Cherry

You can't swap a council rental for another non council rental

@Lifegoeson5

People saying it just needs a scrub should rtft. I'm trying so fucking hard to make the place livable.

We can't all be perfect with disposable income.....

People are just trying to help.

This is just mould and mildew and just needs a dehumidifier, some mildew remover, and some elbow grease, and some venting and heating now and again.

Most of us have suffered the same issues (in our home) as we see in your pics.

Why the heck are you 'borrowing £5,000 off someone,' when less than £100 will buy a dehumidifier some bleach, rags, kitchen roll, J-cloths, and mould and mildew remover that will do the job (along with venting, and heating the place?!)

There really is no helping some people. They just want the world handed to them on a plate, and don't want to help themselves!

You can get a set of four damp removers from B & M for £2.99 (for the four!)

www.bmstores.co.uk/products/dehumidifiers-4-x-250g-321193

Get a couple of sets and put one in each room.

And please stop the assumptions that all people who help themselves are loaded, and have lots of disposable income, because it's not true! Some people are quite poor, but will still try and help themselves, and do the best they can, and don't expect others to do stuff for them, and just make excuse after excuse to not help themselves.

As some people have said, be glad you have got a secure tenancy!

And yeah, some council properties DO have damp that cannot be got rid of (obviously a fault in the building,) but the OP's issue is easily remedied.

We've lived in lots of different places over the years for various mainly job-related reasons (mainly private rented; sometimes landlords get surprisingly sniffy if you decorate, but anyway) - and have found the following very helpful, as others have suggested. We now live in our own converted Victorian flat which was, once upon a time, part of a rather grand house. Some aspects are great, some not so much, and we live in one of the very dampest parts of the very damp set of islands we call the British Isles....

1. Dehumidifier. Honestly, they're brilliant. I wish we'd got one sooner. We have two medium sized ones and we rotate them round different rooms. They've been working overtime the last few weeks though - we may have to buy a larger one...

1. Mould and mildew, as someone else has suggested. It's brilliant. It's better than bleach solution, vinegar solution, or lemon juice solution, in my experience. I have sometimes used a bit of tea tree and thyme diluted in water as a top up though in between mould and mildew applications.

1. Open the windows each day for ventilation, even just a few minutes will really help. And if you've had a bath etc then wipe over the surfaces with a cloth to absorb as much moisture as possible. And yes to the heating too, once you've closed the window; also, it can depend on what type of heating you have. In my experience, sometimes gas heating, for instance, can be a little more moisture creating than, say, halogen or oil-filled radiators. (Not explaining that very well, so I hope it makes sense.)

1. If you CAN decorate, look into mould resistant paint - your local DIY store will probably be able to help.

1. If you can, don't dry clothes inside (though in our endlessly damp autumn/winter/spring climate this is easier said than done) - do you have a laundrette nearby? We're lucky enough to have a garden where we can hang clothes out on dry days, but they're so rare in the UK this time of year we often end up in the laundrette (no room for a tumble dryer in our bijou kitchen and the shed is too full of stuff at present to be turned into a utility). We do also have a heated purpose-bought drying rail which we sometimes use, followed by opening the windows and doors to let as much breeze as possible through. When it stops raining, ha!

I'm really confused - in one photo there is a picture of some chasing in that has been plastered over, looks like a tidy job. What on earth am I missing?

If it is real damp and not just condensation then why has the council not done a proper job and installed or replaced the old damp proof course. They do not last forever and some older council properties will have long defunct damp proofing in the walls.

Ordinary moisture and condensation is easily kept on top of as many other people point out. Clothes drying indoors and bad or no ventilation in the bathroom are the main culprits. I own my property but have lived in council accommodation in the past.

At present I make sure whenever I am cooking in my tiny kitchen the window is open. It does away with most of the window and sill wiping.

Not sure of how council housing agreements work these days or if they differ from borough to borough etc but in my day all internal decoration and general upkeep was the tenant's responsibility and this extended to the garden or yard areas.

Any repairs or replacements of boilers/electrical repairs and fixed heating appliances were the council's to maintain and replace as necessary.

You pay £600' a month flor SECURE housing?

I pay £575 for 1bed bungalow that I know my landlady wants back in a few years. I've decorated and paid for new flooring. Paid for garden tho be. Sorted. I'd kill for a council house or flat .

Forgot to mention, I also have a good dehumidifier which I use in the winter. Cost just under £100 from Argos and works a treat. There are cheaper ones I know. A couple of hours switched on and around a pint of water is sitting in the tray. I am tempted to leave it on all day but my electricity bill is high enough!

Would your money be better spent on a mortgage? Could you get a mortgage instead?

You are spending a lot of your hard earned money on renting something substandard.

Well having lived in Council housing all my days mine does not look like that -just to clarify !

How is she going to get a mortgage that enables her to house 7 people at only £150 per week?

Apart from the deposit and mortgage repayments, she'll have to fund her own repairs and refurbishments too.

If you are complaining about the repairs that need doing I would like to add

At 20 I bought my first house, it needed repairs............the council didn't pay for them, along with any usual maintenance and repairs that needed doing.

I did not come from a family with money, I worked a low paying job and struggled to make ends meet, why don't you put some of your own money in to the repairs needed and be thankful you don't have the same costs that come with privately owned houses.

I think your thread has backfired on you.

Proper ventilation is key.
Black mould is generally caused by poor ventilation.
Drying clothes indoors / having a fish tank / hardly ever opening the windows makes / any combination of these, make ideal conditions for black mould growth.
Do some cleaning and get those windows open daily. Doing so for even a little time each day will make a noticeable improvement.

I don’t understand why you’re borrowing £5k either

The little damp absorbers a poster linked to are good. Both mum’s house and my previous flat had the condensation issue as well, it's constant to deal with. It’s not about council housing.

Boiler sounds pretty standard for anywhere. I don’t know anyone who has unlimited hot water or how that would work. You can get a shower attachment that goes over the taps on the bath. That’s what I grew up with anyway, so I’m hoping they still sell,them!

Oh here’s the shower thingy

www.argos.co.uk/product/4535014

To be fair it really depends on the area. You’d get something similar on the rental market where I live for that price. In London that would be a bargain.

Proper ventilation is key.
Black mould is generally caused by poor ventilation.
Drying clothes indoors / having a fish tank / hardly ever opening the windows makes / any combination of these, make ideal conditions for black mould growth.
Do some cleaning and get those windows open daily. Doing so for even a little time each day will make a noticeable improvement.
Also; you could possibly enquire with the landlord about getting a 'positive input ventilation' system installed - something which can be added up in the loft area (if you have your own loft space of course) - as it draws in fresh air, it pushes out the 'old' air and assists ventilation.

@StoppinBy
Woop de fucking do!
How very lucky were you?
The lucky ones don't normally brag

I remember those shower hoses @AutumnRose1 Used to have one in the 1970s and early 1980s.

@AutumnRose1

The little damp absorbers someone mentioned upthread are good..

Thank you. That was me. Yep the little damp absorbers are brilliant.

I meant to put a pic of them on and forgot. I am doing so this time!

You can get them from B & M, Poundstretcher, Home Bargains, Poundland, for less than a quid each. And I expect loads of other places sell them too!

www.bmstores.co.uk/products/dehumidifiers-4-x-250g-321193

We have one particular room (little spare bedroom,) that seems to get a bit of condensation on the window and window ledge and skirting board. Even with the window open and heating on, it gets it a bit when it's damp and cold outside.

Not REALLY bad, but a bit more than the other rooms (which have very little, and not very often.) It's on the edge of the house, north east facing, and isn't used much. So we put one of these in, and the bit of damp that was in there, dried up pretty well!

After about 3-5 months, the bottom half of the container will fill with water. (And that is the condensation in the room being taken out!)

Try these @Lifegoeson5 (As well as venting and heating as much as you can,) and also try and get an electric dehumidifier when you can afford it. (Ebay, Amazon, and Aldi do one for around £35 to £40.00.

And as a few posters have said, the stuff you are showing us here should wipe off fairly easily... with some kitchen roll. (after spraying it with mould and mildew remover.)