DD's friend, worried about family's living conditions

[tanyaek]

Not in my house, but the family of my DD's best friend from school.
Went to collect my DD from having tea at said house on Friday evening.
The little girl's parents seemed embarrassed when I went inside and saw all the damp, mold all over the living room. I didn't say anything but my face must have told a story. The mum then said follow me, showed me around the whole house, said they've been struggling with the landlord for a couple of years, but nothing being done.
The little girl (4 years old) and her older brothers (teenagers) suffer with asthma, as do the parents.
The landlord sounds a total rogue from what mum told me on Friday. Turns up to take payment every month but makes constant excuses not treat the mold and damp. Says it will cost too much, therefore decides not to bother.
The bathroom and parent's bedroom looked like those shown on ITV news a couple of months back. Completely black with mold.
When showing me round the house (I'd never been before as don't really know the family well, DS and the little girl have only been friends for a few weeks since we moved to the area), the mum seemed scared to report the landlord, says he's intimidating. TBH, didn't even sound like a properly -registered one, if he turns up to collect cash payments each month.
I think social services are aware of the situation as it was highlighted following a recent medical episode. The SS have told the family the house isn't fit to live in. But nothing seems to be happening... Why aren't SS getting on the landlord's case and forcing some action?
The couple seemed worried about the rent being increased to reflect repair costs, and don't seem keen to kick up a fuss.
I felt so helpless when seeing the conditions on Friday, how can the landlord get away with this?

Basically, then, mould may just be because the tenants are alive… If they are barely able to afford the rent, they are not going to be able to afford heating or a tumble dryer, so not exactly many options for avoiding all of mould, damp and hypothermia for a large part of every year.

Have they been in touch with Shelter? They are a great source of advice.

And what possibly could be the other side of this situation?>

In my current rented flat there's absolutely no space for a tumble dryer in the kitchen or bathroom... unless you think I should put it next to the TV in the living room? In front of the fireplace? Or perhaps I should replace the bedside table with a tumble dryer.

And to be perfectly honest, I'm not paying out £300++, in addition to the running costs, for an item I may not be able to take with me when the landlord inevitably evicts, as they always do eventually, to protect someone else's property. If the landlord thinks a tumble dryer is necessary they should be providing one (and it would need to be a condenser tumble dryer, as vented ones will just release the moisture back into the room).

Funny how both my parents (owner occupiers, separate houses) have always dried all their laundry indoors and have never had problems with damp. Blaming damp on condensation is invariably a slumlord tactic to victim blame the tenant and avoid taking action to deal with the cracked render / damp proof course / cracked pipe / dodgy roof.

As a stop-gap, Astonish do an amazing mould & mildew spray - spray affected area, leave for 20 minutes & wipe off. It kills the mould spores, but if they have got into the plaster or the render outside has cracked then it's only a stop-gap (& it's really cheap in Home Bargains). I have it as hubs will only sleep with the windows closed and if the weather is too bad to open them then the room can get stuffy.

Other than that, unless you know of better rentals / can help find them then there isn't that much you can do, especially if, as you say, SS are already involved and advising them. That said, maybe host playdates at yours so that the child gets a break from the mould?

I get that you are concerned, and that's good, but with the chronic lack of social housing and affordable rented accommodation too many are in the same situation as this family, throughout Britain.

@truhamboys if there is no room for a tumble dryer get a heated airer and stick it in the smallest room with a dehumidifier running. You sign an agreement to look after a property, the landlord doesn’t need to hold a tenants hand through everything because they don’t want to buy a tumble dryer.

The people here need to clean the house thoroughly with bleach or mould killer, get a dehumidifier, keep the windows cracked open and wipe down the windows in the mornings. They should also check the extractors are working. I say this as a surveyor. Although not a building surveyor I did have to study two years of construction at university and one of my qualifying competencies was Housing Repair and Maintenance.

I had black mold caused my condensation a few years back as there was a quirk with the building that made it particularly susceptible.

Thet need to empty each room, scrub the walls with a light bleach solution to get rid of the mold and then clean the room thoroughly and get a dehumidifier in each room.

its horrible and the landlord could do more but black mold is likely condensation rather than damp.

@MissusMaisel And what possibly could be the other side of this situation?>

MH problems, addiction.

I haven;t rented for decades so this may be out of date but it used to be legal to withhold rent and spend it on necessary repairs if the landlord doesn't sort them in a timely manner. Worth checking if that's still legal and then not paying the rent until it is done, but holding it in a savings account to pay as soon as all remedial work has been signed off.

I’m amazed by how many people have landlords that turn up monthly for envelopes of cash.
They often exploit people whose credit history means an agreement with proper contracts is hard to obtain. It’s not rare as someone else suggested , it’s happening more than ever.

If they aren't prepared to contact Env Health etc then really there's nothing you can do.

Were the windows open when you went in? Was the property overcrowded with items against the wall? Did she suggest they're making any effort to wash the walls down etc?

I guess you could offer to help in a "was thinking about your mold situation, I remember Mom saying you could treat it like this, I'd be happy to give you a hand and the girls could play at mine" but difficult to know how it'll be taken

The living conditions sound poor but mould is generally down to the tenants, not the landlord.

My ex and I used to rent a room in a flat and when our flatmate moved out, we took over the whole tenancy. We went into his room after he left and the mould was horrendous. We cleaned it up and aired the place, and then lived there for another two years without a single issue with mould. We also paid our rent in cash every month - dealing with cash isn't necessarily an issue.

People need to air their homes (especially when drying clothing indoors), invest in things like dehumidifiers, heat their homes adequately and open windows when doing things like cooking. If tenants are choosing not to do those things (or are financially incapable of doing so) it's not really the fault of the landlord as such.

Like PP have said, tread carefully here. You may not know the full story and you don't want to be responsible for them being evicted.

No, you can't just withhold rent. Not paying your rent will just result in eviction.

It's also the case that the landlord isn't responsible for repairs caused by the tenants' failure to look after the property correctly.

Your landlord doesn’t have to make sure your home’s fit for human habitation if you caused the problem by:

• not looking after your home properly - for example not using the extractor fan after having a shower


• doing something unreasonable - for example leaving candles burning when you go out

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/renting-privately/during-your-tenancy/dealing-with-repairs/