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?

The thing is, people are also cutting down on their use of things like tumble driers. There are probably more people drying clothes indoors now than there used to be. And as I said in my previous post, the weather has been absolutely dire where I am and washing has no chance of drying outdoors. So if if you naven't got a tumble dryer or can't afford to run one, then where do you actually try to dry your clothes?

If there was damp in August you have a problem and need to sort it out

Yanbu of course tenants need to put the heating on regularly. Seriously are people totally uneducated these days.

Before central heating people had little portable heaters and the like or open fires. Maybe provide them with a
plug in oil radiator OP so that they at least heat the room that has mould developing. They are cheap to run. Bloody energy crisis is going to make lots of people sick.

Wow! If you don't include heating in the rent then you cannot force your tenant to use the heating. I'm amazed at some of the responses suggesting otherwise.

I have 2 rooms with mould which I'm currently on top off with regular cleaning/ventilation/ heating on. Yanbu. My landlord will treat the whole wall when it gets bad though and has done so twice now in 11 or so years.

Yep.

Warm in September, yes. And wet. Warm and wet = mould growth.

There was already damp before they moved in. Don't be so condescending to say to turn up the heating.
YOU should of dealt with before you rented it out. I rent, there was a damp problem before I moved in and wasn't told and now I'm dealing with having to wipe down my bloody walls on a daily basis because my landlord is the same!!

@Sereyah you have a more serious problem particularly if you heat and ventilate. I would get out asap.

This is precisely the point I was making
I feel sorry for those people who can't afford the heating but the problem was there in August and September so it's only going to get worse over the winter

The heating would have not needed to have been on In september. It was mild. You need to treat the damp and mould and to have not rented a house with damp

I used to work in tenant referencing and the amount of landlords I spoke to who said they had mould purely because they had tenants who would NOT put any heating on. This was old houses, new houses, etc.

The tenant has a responsibility to maintain the house and that includes keeping it ventilated and heated( within reason)

OP if these tenants can’t afford to heat your home for a few hours a day they are not the tenants for you. Serve notice and get people in who will treat the property with the respect it deserves.

Because if she insists contractually that the heating is on for a sufficient period, she’ll need to reduce the rent to balance that. Which means she’s paying to heat someone else’s home - and it doesn’t sound like she can afford to.

My husband let his son live in his house after moving in with me. Stepson is now buying own place. One option husband looked into was renting out a room rather than letting out the house. No need to move all his stuff out, and the rent-a-room tax allowance is good. But since the fuel increases, it’s clear that if he gets someone who has the heating on all day every day (and why not, if it’s paid for?) then having a lodger could actually cost him money. Simply can’t afford to be a landlord in that way.

If she’s lucky OP can find tenants who can afford rent and enough heating - but it sounds like she may have to drop the rent too low to it then be viable for her.

@Pleasecreateausername13 Have you missed that the OP admits there is some mould even with the heating on? Any tenant with a choice would not rent this house.

People living in houses do need to take some responsibility. Mould will grow in any place if not well ventilated. We live in a 1970s place and I spent Friday demoulding - this has become an issue exactly because we had not turned the heating on. Plus it has been soooooo wet.

I think you need to be sure OP that you have done your part. You can't dismiss 'a bit of damp' (which is what she said, not a bit of mould - they are different) in the bay window. Get that treated. Installing double glazing has probably cut down drafts so also get a damp expert in for advice. You may need to add air bricks to compensate. Get them to also check that there are no other sources of damp and if there is get it sorted. If there is a garden, make sure there is a line so tenants can dry clothes outside when at all possible.

Ultimately in a single-skin house then there are things you have to do to keep it mould free. Landlords and ladies need to provide the facilities to do so. They can't protect tenants from the normal requirements of living.

But they can take measures themselves by wiping it away regularly, using a humidifier in that room etc even the humidifier eggs are not expensive

It's not been that cold. This is a problem with your house and they are right to expect you to fix it. I live in an old house and have barely put the heating on. We don't gave mould.

Given the cost of private rentals, I would imagine a large % of tenants will struggle to put adequate heating on this winter. You want looked after the property, then rent needs to be realistic.

Mould should be dealt with before tenants move in or rent low to account for tenants having to deal with it.

The OP does not say that mould was present before they moved in
... although the damp should have been corrected

@midge Fair enough. But damp does turn into mould if not treated.

Op didn’t say she rented the house out in August. She was living there until the end of August. Odds on there was a delay between her moving out and them moving in. These older houses need ventilating regularly. I’m a landlady and I’ve had tenants, who never opened the windows despite a clause in the contract stipulating to do so. The trick to ventilation is to open regularly but for short periods of time so as to change the air but not cool down the room. If these people haven’t been doing so and have in addition been drying washing inside, they’re causing the issue which is why op needs to explain all of this to them.

She's not expecting them to put up with it! Christ almighty some people on this thread are a bit volatile.

The house had a small damp issue. The OP didn't say she rented it out with mould. The tenants are not heating the house thus creating the mould issue. Normal procedure is to heat the house properly and allow some ventilation to avoid this problem.

Everyone is worried about heating costs but this is the reality of you don't heat a house. Sounds like it's not the house for these tenants.

of course not but the solution is heat the home. Many homes would have mould if left freezing cold and damp.

But they are causing the mould. UK houses have a problem due to the climate and insulation has made it worse. They need to keep the house ventilated and heated.

@Pleasecreateausername13
”Serve notice and get people in who will treat the property with the respect it deserves.”

I don’t disagree with the action of getting the right tenants, but I don’t like your wording there at all.

People who can’t afford heating are not disrespecting property. Mould damage isn’t the same as putting picture hooks up or dropping fag ash in carpets. I’m sure the tenants would love to be able to afford to heat the house and themselves. This isn’t wilful destruction, but a really sad situation all round.