AIBU to expect the tenants to turn the heating up?

[LadyMaine]

I've owned my 3 bed Victorian house for 7 years. There was a little bit of damp in the downstairs bay window but nothing serious.

I moved for work at end of August this year and rented it out. Within a few weeks the tenants (3 adults & dog) started complaining of damp and mould. When I went to inspect the house was very cold.
They said they are worried about high heating bills. I do understand this but have told them they really need to turn the heating up.

The boiler is in full working order as are the extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom.
I installed new double glazed windows throughout when I bought the house. It also has a damp course installed.

Now they are complaining that there is black mould and that one of the tenants' asthma is getting worse.
What can I do to get them to turn the heating up?

Lots of people have their heating on, I don't believe in there being a competition to last longest without it. In the evening it gets quite chilly where I am. Plus the wind coming off the sea has been brutal some days. There will be more homes with condensation/damp if we seal them all up. Great for keeping warm,bad for keeping moisture in.

I notice my student daughters tenancy agreement required the house to be kept at a specific temperature. Your tenants will cause your house actual damage if they don't put the heating on. There's also a concern around the health of the tenant with asthma so if consider terminating their tenancy if they continue to refuse to switch the heating on.

Ask them to leave, they are damaging your house, treat the damp and mould and then let to people who can afford to heat it. Black mould is really dangerous for them and they will ruin your property

Buy two dehumidifiers, one for upstairs and one for downstairs. Make sure they understand how to use them to best effect (in sealed rooms, i.e. with the door and windows closed- you can't dehumidify the world). Agree on a minimum amount they should be run every day. Also, the bathroom door should be closed all the time and the window open (if safe, otherwise only when at home), lids on pans containing liquid, airing the kitchen after cooking, using a dryer to dry clothes and not drying clothes inside. Gutters cleared of leaves. Furniture not pushed against the wall. No standing water (e.g. washing up bowl of water).

I’m not a landlord, I was a humble clerk working in housing repairs when I learnt that most (not all) damp issues are caused by condensation. Condensation caused by no ventilation, even when the cost of heating was far more affordable. Our inspectors would check various flats in a block where one or two tenants complained of damp and mould, to see if it was an issue with the building. Usually it was lifestyle. Airbricks covered because they let in cold air!

It is difficult, I hate not being able to dry my washing outside, we are wrapping up warmly in the house, and after our showers in the morning, we have the heating on low, and several windows open. On the colder mornings, I’m mopping the window ledges with old towels. We are on a low income, fortunately we can cut back on some things to still have some heat. The £66 a month helps a bit.

House had damp so you decided to rent it out rather than sort it out? It sounds like the Bay window needs remedial work.

It’s mouldy because they are not turning the heating on and ventilating the property. While I feel for them, that causes mould and it’s not the landlords fault

Really, where? Its pretty balanced to be honest, but the reality is that surely as renters you bear some responsibility at least to keeping the house habitable.

So much landlord bashing the majority of us do care!
Condensation is a manageable issue if the right steps are taken you can’t wave a magic wand unfortunately..
I grew up in a house that had massive condensation issues, my Mum did get a dehumidifier in the end and it went away.. it was definitely a lifestyle issue she refused to ventilate at all

This article is interesting. Landlords do have a duty of care to tenants to ensure homes are fit for human habitation. Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act, which came into force in March 2019.

'Revenge evictions' when a tenant complains (as advised by several here) are not allowed.

The report by the Housing Ombudsman mentioned is also interesting, entitled 'It's not lifestyle'.

www.bigissue.com/news/housing/what-to-do-if-you-have-damp-and-mould-in-your-home/

Problems with penetrating damp (seems to be the issue here with the bay window) or rising damp need dealt with by the landlord. "Penetrating damp occurs when water leaks through walls or roofs while rising damp means parts of the building are absorbing moisture, whether it be the bricks on the property’s exterior or the concrete in the building’s foundations."

Asthma + Lung UK has five top tips to prevent damp and mould building up:
1 Open windows and doors (but be mindful of high pollen or pollution days)
2 Try to avoid drying clothes indoors, but open a window if you have no other option
3 Use extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom or open a window when cooking or showering
4 Close the door of the room you’re in when cooking or showering to prevent condensation in other rooms
5 Keep rooms at a minimum of 15 degrees to ensure they don’t get too cold

Make sure the house doesn’t have damp. The only time I’ve seen mould is in a Georgian property which then needed re plastering etc.

But it was only one wall next to outside which was suffering from a leak.

Not an expert at all but maybe inspect what’s going on first and the clause below is interesting might be worth looking at - although hard to put in now if not already there.

We still had really bad condensation/mould in our flat when using the heating. It was largely down to laundry drying. The answer is to buy them a dehumidifier to use. They cost about 10p an hour to run so £30 a month if run for 10 hours a day. You could knock this off their rent to ensure they run it. It isn’t their fault your house is predisposed to mould (we now live in a house and have not yet turned the heating in and have no issues with mould).

@LiveintheNow

True but it works both ways. A landlord could provide everything for the tenant but the tenant also has a duty of care to the property.

Damp and mould have known solutions. If a tenant dries clothing continuously without ventilation, heating or anything else to mitigate the humidity, it's not the landlords fault.

Nb - Im a landlord myself and this is what I would do in your situation.

You'd save a lot more money (for all parties) by getting a PIV unit installed and solve the ventilation issue at the same time.

You will have to give them notice.

it’s their behaviour that’s causing the problem. Behaviour like theirs would produce condensation and mould regardless of whether they are tenants or owners.

Not true. There was no mould when op lived in the house. You need to heat and ventilate houses to keep mould at bay.

not everybody has put the heating on,
many people have only been putting the heat on sporadically in the last few days!

If they aren’t putting the heating on and it caused the mould, and you warned them, they lose their deposit, it’s as simple as that. Get an estate agent to help you manage the let.

In older houses you have to put heat on otherwise you will get old. It’s often in contracts and tenants will lose their deposits if they don’t as it can ruin the house.

old and grey before you time?

But @Onnabugeisha they're dirty tenants, you know: as we've been told repeatedly on this thread, they'd rather grow black mould, damage their own and their kid's health and/or die, rather than 'crack open a window' or put some heating on 🙄

No idea why people think they can rent a house and then breathe in it.

The mould is caused by them not heating the home. How can op deal with something when they are refusing to take even the most basic step to help themselves?

This very issue has just been addressed on BBC1 Morning Live show. The resident Doctor has said

1. Open windows for ventilation
2. Shorter showers (less steam)
3. Put some heating on
4. Check extractor fans are working - if it doesn't hold a sheet of paper against the grill when on, replace

This is not a "slum landlord" issue. The producer of the show took pictures of the mould in his own, very much not slum, property.

It's a "we live in a damp country" issue. I suspect the major cause is trying to dry clothes indoors. If you are doing that, ventilation and a dehumidifier are a must have.

Tenants are going to blame landlords obviously, because its got to be someone else's fault hasn't it. I can forsee this being a nightmare for LL's and I'd get out of the business sharpish.