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?

We have a similar issue - we have a tenant family in the flat we rent out (husband's old home).

They're really nice and from Jordan, here to work. Husband works mainly from home in a tech role - they have one young child.

We've never (in 10 years) had a mould issue but the tenant contacted us recently to say there was a problem. When we went over there was black mould EVERYWHERE. It was also like a sauna inside the flat and the tenant said he doesn't open the windows as they don't like the cold.

We suspected that might be the issue but spent £400 on a damp survey. Turned out it was only happening because there was no airflow and they never turned on the extractor fans or opened a window.

We bought them a dehumidifier and cleaned the walls but unfortunately they didn't seem happy to use it. Meaning we have no way to prevent it getting out of control again. Sadly I think we'll have to give them notice at the end of their contract as we're risking serious damage to the walls and carpets. There's nothing we can do!

I'm guessing you have bead insulation in the walls? If you do that's what's causing the damp. Especially around windows. Get it removed if you have it.

Lower the rent of offer to contribute to the heating. Sorted.

It won’t be a good thing for those who hope to rent as there are going to be fewer rental properties available!

Like a few previous posters, I also used to work for a local authority and dealt with complaints from tenants about mould. In the overwhelming majority of cases the mould was caused by condensation - usually due to a lack of ventilation. Tenants refused to open windows or air their homes on the basis that they would be wasting heat they had paid for. This was 30 odd years ago - this is not a new problem but likely exacerbated now by cost of living crisis.

If I were the OP, I’d be thinking about selling the property as renting it out is likely to cause damage which will be costly to repair and which might reduce the value of the house if/when it is sold.

She DID there, until August, without an issue, because she maintained it properly....we had exactly the same problem, lived in a period, mountainside property for 8 years, no issues. Tennant moves in, issues within weeks because they wouldn't heat or use the dehumidifiers provided. Our house was double glazed, centrally heated AND had a Rayburn, we replaced the roof and it was damp coursed,we also provided dehumidifiers, but old properties need looking after. There is only so much land lords can do. We had builders, damp proof experts, no one could suggest what else we could do short of knocking down the 200 year old house..... is that what you think the land lord should do?

come on MN, admit you start these yourselves for ad revenue or to charm your pals at the gutter press.

Get orf my land peasants lol!

Don't make it 18 degrees as another PP suggested. Contract terms need to be reasonable to be enforceable. There's another tread in AIBU running on a similar issue and they've said on there heating clauses are usually set with a minimum temperature somewhere in the 12-15 degrees range. The LL there has offered to pay for every second oil delivery. I don't think I'd offer to pay the bill as you might get the opposite problem then. Maybe you could deduct a set amount from the rent over winter to go towards paying the heating bill. Obviously making that agreement in writing, tenants to keep minimum temperature above x in return over weeks where temperature is below y LL will pay $z towards heating bill.

I think the landlord should repair the ongoing penetrating damp in her bay window area that was flagged up by the surveyor over 8yrs ago. That’s not a huge ask.

I've not put our heating on yet and don't have any damp or mould. There might be an underlying cause.

OP, I am not too far off your situation. We rent out a victoria terrace which is prone to mould in the back bedroom. It didn't have any mould when we lived there as we used it as an office (it's a tiny room), but obviously sleeping in it has increased the condensation. We've had advice and short of tearing down and rebuilding the back of our house we can't do anything amout it other than heat and ventilate. I am really worried about it because I would hate for my tenants to be unwell, especially given recent events.

What we did was we provided mould removing cleaning products and a dehumidifier. Our tenant has also found that it helps to have plants in the room which absorb moisture. She is currently heating and ventilating as she can to stay on top of it.

I don''t know what else we can do. Ideally noone should be sleeping in there, but it's a single mum and 3 kids (it wasn't when they moved it, it was a couple with one child, but things change) so they need the room. I don't want to evict them if they want to stay, and I already charge them significantly below market rent. We simply can't afford to rebuild the house, so if that was the only solution we would sell (which would then make our tenants homeless).

But agree, MN hates LLs so I will probably be told I am useless and money grabbing too.

Lmao

Tbh that is how you solve the problem. How do you propose OP solved the problem?

You can do what my landlord did when I complained about rising damp where the damp coursing had been breached, send them a comfort thermometer that tells us the temperature and humidity levels and an leaflet and DVD to tell them to ventilate the property daily by opening the windows and and not to dry washing inside etc.

Scottish law is different and tenants can’t be evicted during winter, regardless of how they damage property. Or have I got this wrong?

I’m confused / why when I was little we didn’t have mold because mother opened the windows and it allowed the building to breathe. The windows were dried daily.
No drying clothes inside and only a little heat.
Heating has always been expensive except in recent years it wasn’t too bad.
Be sensible, open windows, keep the house heated what’s wrong with that?

Why should she pay their bills?

They took on a responsibility they can't afford to meet. That's on them, not the OP. Same as if their chosen lack of heating led to a burst pipe or other damage.

They need to work more or reorganize their budget to cover the cost.

Where did they take on that responsibility?

Is it a statutory provision? No

Is there anything in their contract that they need to have the heating turned up from September onwards (bearing in mind it's been so warm, I've only switched mine on last week)? No

Ultimately it's the LL's responsibility to make sure the house is clean and safe.

Maintaining /using reasonable care. In my phrasing means the same !
they should turn the heating up to stop it going mouldy !
they are effectively abusing damage.

this is a discussion board.

I too I have the ability to use google and copy and paste !! 🙄 congratulations on your skills !

To be fair its not MN that doesn't like LLs it's LLs that haven't got a clue what they're doing and need free, unsound, unprofessional advice from the Internet rather than building / contract specialists that are inevitably going to attract ire dear . Why on earth would you post such a crucial issue 🤔

What law requires them to have the heating turned up in September?

Hint: I'm looking for something from a statute, or the English common law (I'm assuming the rental asset is in England and Wales).

It's a business and legal relationship. The tenant is not the OP's mate.

Quite. I only leased four times: two of my landlords were lovely; one was a bit shit but not malign; the fourth was a fucking crushing abusive arsehole.

On the whole, it's not LLs people have a problem with. It's fucking cunts who rinse decent people who are just looking for a roof over their head.

Oh, I dunno, perhaps repair the source of the penetrating damp in her bay window that the surveyor identified over 8yrs ago? Baffled at how a written official expert identified cause of damp in a report to the OP is being completely ignored in favour of rampant assumptions about the tenants’ lifestyle.

Turning the heating up when you have penetrating damp makes mould worse. Heat and ventilation only counters mould from condensation damp.

There is a solution to this which has been mentioned a few times upthread. You need a Positive Input Ventilation system. Envirovent for example. I had almost identical issues to you in a tenanted Victorian house, particularly in the back bedroom. This system sorted it out. It costs in the region of £1500, or maybe a bit more these days, but worth it.

Seriously?

Renting a house doesn't mean one just moves in and uses the accommodation with no responsibility to keep it in good shape.

My god, I really feel for landlords these days. Entitled tenants who think they can just move in and shirk any care for the property they are using.