Mould should housing pay for beds

[Askingforafriend101]

Hi.
Albu to expect my housing association to pay for replacement beds mattress etc?

My home has penetrative raising damp in 2 rooms downstairs and has damp from room in all 3 bedrooms on one side of house.
The mould spread everywhere and you can wipe down but it's back with a vengeance few days later.

I've had housing out few times to wipe and put on special paint but it xomes back.

My little ones room is worst its all over clothes toys etc... there is no where safe from it

The smell is horrendous 2x children on ventolin and eye drops for itchy eyes (I think it's mould related)

They coming Friday to sort out by wiping and putting new uv paint on and sort guttering and roof but Said I need to get rid of the bed and mattress and wardrobe as mould is soacked.into mdf and will keep returning.

I asked if they going to replace as they already taken 2 carpets and wallpaper strips leaving me to sort which I havent been able to... they said no it's not their responsibility.
I have kids living in something you see on comic relief night!.
I can't get credit or loan etc. How should I go forward as I really don't think they should just be saying get rid

I’d honestly be pushing to be rehoused due to the health implications for dc. I never understand the posters who say this is normal if you don’t open windows. I don’t open windows daily and have no mould. I bet there’s no tumble dryer so clothes have to be dried in the home.

have you got a dehumidifier?

there’s also charities that provide beds to children in need. Contact your local Church of England vicar and ask if there’s any help available (you don’t need to be a church goer).

I’m so appalled you have to live like this. It’s not okay.

To be fair, it depends on a lot of factors whether a house gets mould, so you drying clothes indoors doesn't mean everyone can.

Also, it's unlikely the LA have anywhere better to put them, being as there's a housing shortage - if the house were deemed not fit for habitation they may well end up in emergency housing or even a B and B/hotel.

Are you in the Welsh Valleys, by any chance? My ex-MIL lived in a terrace in one of the valleys and it was perpetually damp. It didn't matter what she did, or didn't do, it always felt damp because it was basically built into the side of a mountain!

Get onto your housing association and KEEP on at them. Also get in touch with your MP or AM. Your house needs to be safe and fit for habitation.

The problem with damp is it can really really tricky to find the cause. Water and damp can find it way into properties in odd ways.

Firstly obvious issues like over flowing gutters, failed window seals, roof defects or internal pipe leaks need to be investigated and fixed. We once had an issue with a kitchen cupboard and contents being riddled with mould and the skirting board on the wall outside the kitchen cracking and rotting. We went spare trying to understand the cause. Turned out the seal around the bath had failed (bathroom is next to the kitchen) and every time we showered water was pooling on to the concrete floor under the bath and soaking the surrounding walls.

If it is none of those issues are found then it is likely to be condensation caused by lifestyle and building construction. I live in a 1930s single skin concrete block with a concealed steel frame. This creates cold areas in flats that attracts condensation. As I said we have a thermal bridge in our main bedroom, if we don't heat and ventilate religiously in cold weather like now we can literally get drips of water running down the wall. If I wasn't on the third floor of a four story building I would have sworn blind it was a roof leak.

Similarly with pentrating or rising damp, the balconies in our block are solid concrete slabs that extend under the floor in the living rooms. This can create cold areas at the bottom of the external wall attracting condensation. Some people in our block affected by this can be convinced this is rising damp.

I don't know what your issue is and it is impertive the HA investigate the cause quickly and throughly. But all I am.saying is sometimes it is not easy to diagnose.

Can you move, this will cause your children serious ongoing health issues (sounds like it already is)

I had mould and I can 100% say it was my fault not structural or building issue

I work for a HA. Don't go down the route if a no win, no fee solicitor. They're just companies latching on to the latest thing that they think can make them money.

HAs should be hot on fixing this at the moment as the Housing Ombudsman is pretty much daily dishing out maladministration judgements against different organisations for not dealing with damp and mould. If you haven't already start the formal complaints process as you'll need to have exhausted that before going to the Ombudsman. I would double check on your HAs website that they do not have any hardship grants that you can use for new furniture as many do, don't just take the word of the person you spoke to. For all those saying that it's lifestyle, the HA I work for has done hundreds of damp and mould inspections over the last year and the tiniest proportion were due to lifestyle. Almost all cases were caused by either external or internal leaks. Hope you get it sorted soon OP.

Sometimes the only other option is for tbe LA to fit external or internal insulation to deal with very cold external walls.

I agree and leave a window open a crack.

Have you put this all in writing to your HA and lodged a complaint with them? Ensure you follow their complaint process to a T and send copies of your letter to your MP, notifying your HA that you have done this. They should be taking this seriously. I work for a HA and thousands of pounds have been pumped into sorting damp and mould for tenants, extensive surveys and repair works. Dehumidifiers are provided and hardship funds available to replace items. Maybe this is the same with your HA?
I'm sorry you're going through this and your children too, it can really make you so unwell. Absolutely push your HA until the root cause of the damp and mould is fixed, not just covered over.

Start making a paper trail with them and ask them in email that if you are expected to remove your personal goods that have been damaged due to their damp that they will be replacing them.

For you just to help even a little don’t have anything touching the walls and if you do have the money a dehumidifier. No you should have to as such but if it can make your life nicer and healthier for you and your children it’s worth it. Hell ask them for dehumidifiers and an electric allowance to run them up and downstairs.

Mould happens because of two things, either from issues with the building ie rising damp or the more common is poor ventilation.

many people do not realise that their lifestyle promotes condensation and if the property is not ventilated then mould will appear.

The television and news bash the councils and landlords but never explain about what causes lifestyle condensation.

i agree that rented homes should be fit for purpose but those that live in them should also be aware of their actions too, in the increasing energy poverty times we live in more and more people are turning off their heating, keeping their windows and doors firmly closed to keep in the heat but then hanging a rack full of wet washing to dry. No wonder this mould problem has rocketed.

So many views on your situation some based on expertise and some on experience. Unfortunately the speculation here will not help resolve your problem. You should consider working through the formal processes and hopefully your landlord will listen early into the steps.

1. Tell your landlord the issue in writing, and how it affects you and your family. If you haven’t already, then…
2. Make a complaint - If they do not respond with a plan of action to identify and address the issue.
3. Escalate through the complaints processes if you don’t get a reasonable response and action on the issue.
4. Go to the Housing Ombudsman they look at these cases everyday with the aim of getting a resolution. They have powers to instruct the landlord to act and pay compensation.
5. Involve any advocate you wish at any stage to support you and help you to be heard.

It must be difficult for your whole family, I am sorry your landlord hasn’t listened to you straight away. Please do consider the route above a process to get the outcome you need - a comfortable and safe home. Best of luck.

I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this OP.

I used to live in a similar property and they would not pay for any replacements.
We had wooden slats on our bed which needed to be replaced about every 3 months, as they’d go black and soggy and snap because of the damp.

I fortunately moved in the end and so I would try to move but it took me many years.
Look into getting a transfer or go back on the council list (look at the banding requirements and see if you fit any of them eg do you need to move closer to family members or work etc and then apply for it again).

Keep pushing for them to sort it in the meantime.

In the meantime:

-declutter. The less stuff you have, the less stuff the damp has to hold on to.

-move all furniture away from the walls.

-only dry clothes in one room (bathroom or kitchen).

-open windows as soon as you wake up to let the condensation out.

-put bedding in plastic zip up bags every morning (you can get big ones in ikea).

-put clothes in the airing cupboard or in plastic containers of wardrobes with dehumidifiers in.

-any fabrics like soft toys or blankets should be put in plastic boxes or plastic zip up bags.

-get some dehumidifiers. The electric ones would be best (perhaps ask the council if they’ll get you one but I doubt they will). I found the mini bond aero ones really good but you need one for every room and you need to replace the disks so it can add up but I could always tell when they needed replacing because it was obviously much more damp.

My housing association paid for any damage to furniture and had a decoration allowance, you are definitely entitled. Make a complaint and contact your MP.

While there's clearly an issue with downstairs that isn't lifestyle, upstairs looks more like condensation.

Obviously the amount of water in the house is higher than it should be but the measures people have suggested are sensible to manage it as much as possible.

Yes in a well ventilated and heated house you can dry washing indoors without these issues, can leave the bathroom door open, not put lids on pans etc but until the issue can be fixed properly (probably a lengthy process unfortunately) then doing everything you can to minimise other sources of moisture is sensible. You probably need to get fanatical about this in a way someone in another property wouldn't need to do always squeegee the shower/ bath tiles, perhaps use a laundrette drier if you can't dry outdoors etc.

Can you rearrange rooms to ensure you don't have furniture against the outside walls? Pull things away to allow more air circulation? Use hanging rails rather than wardrobes or make sure doors on cupboards are left open slightly. Make sure you use bleach to kill mould rather than just wiping.

I agree with ensuring a paper trail for everything and while awaiting the longer term fix make requests that are actionable and reasonable.
For example 'can you provide a dehumidifier'.

It is much harder to ignore this than a huge rambling complaint about everything (not that I'm suggesting you don't have grounds for a complaint, more that it makes it easier for someone to see if things have been handled badly or need to be put right).

I think it's a two pronged attack on getting the issue sorted long term and trying to live in the most effective way to minimize the impact short term.

Look., we can only go on pictures and unless OP posts pictures of downstairs.
Yes we can read but the evidence shown in the photos does not look bad.
No one is patronising , just trying to offer advice.

Every single drop of water that you let into the house from washing, cooking, bathing or whatever has to be let out of the house. That can be from permanent ventilation by air bricks, or frequent opening of windows. Without either of these in place there will be mould.

I live in a end terrace house.
The neighbour said her house was full of mould too and some walls were black but she moved few months ago and housing spent around 6 weeks doing her house but I've noticed on the guttering there is a pipe that will pour loads of water for about 5 to 10 seconds every few hours... our guttering is connected when it pours out can see the house get soaked

I've had mould in more than one property and I can 100% say it was a structural issue.

Op that's awful.

Sorry no advice about how to deal with the HA.

We have mould in an upstairs bedroom. I try and wipe away any damp everyday. Open the window for at least 1hr no matter how cold. Keep the heating on so it's warm. Use a dehumidifier if possible. Also whenever you see mould clean it up with a disinfectant or bleach.

It's so hard to get rid of.

This is really awful, sorry you are going through this. When I was at university my house had the same thing, it gave me a constant wheeze, some things that really helped me.

1. a dry buddy (heated clothes airer if you don't have a tumble dryer)
2. a spin dryer for clothes washing (again if you don't have a tumble dryer)
3. a dehumidifier
4. Unibond aero 360 mini dehumidifiers
5. turning on heating and regularly opening window a bit.
6. storing all clothes and belongings in plastic storage tubs (I believe I got mine in wilko).

I think you need to contact your MP this is dreadful

The house is not fit for human habitation, why have they not done anything about the cause of the damp and mould and permanently fixing it, are they intending to start work soon
You should e trying to get yourself rehoused.

Yes I have few of the uni bonds the refill are so expensive and have loads of the 1 pound disposable ones

I don't dry clothes inside on radiators.

I have trickle things on windows but do leave bathroom and kitchen one ajar most times

Nothing is flat against the wall... my sofa is 2 inches away from wall and either side is free yet still full of mould.

I have extractor above kitchen hobs

I don't have a lot of stuff but what I do have is ruined x

They have been out 8 or 10 times to use a microfiber cloth and wipe and use a special paint. They have been out around 20 times tolook at it and "inspect"
They have done this thing where they put drill in mortar outside and sucked stuff out then filled holes.
They say I need new skirting in bad Areas downstairs and some door frames need bottom replaced as it's rotted making doors fall off

Start your own thread about your mould which is irrelevant to this discussion as the op has rising damp.