Stingy landlord?

[Doglover321]

Hi everyone, I’m sharing a flat with my boyfriend and we have huge mold and drainage issues. Mold covers the exterior and interior of the property, and the toilet and shower are both thoroughly blocked. The landlord visited following a hole in the ground floor flat’s ceiling (due to our shower flooding), and has told us a plumber will be visiting today - two days after the event!! He says we will have to pay rather than him. Surely this is something a landlord would usually pay for? He also told us that in the meantime we would have to use the swimming pool showers if we needed to shower. TIA for any thoughts.

This is what I think

A tip for the future: if the flush is weak, tipping a whole bucket of water down before the problem becomes acute, say once a week, should shift any impending blockages. If the water is starting to rise, a toilet plunger can sort it. And don't flush anything except loo paper, not kitchen roll, tissues, tampons, wipes etc.
However if you are doing all this and it blocks again, you could reasonably say that there is a larger problem that LL needs to sort out.

A loo brush is isn't going to unblock a toilet. Neither will washing up liquid or bicarbonate of soda. A plunger correctly used might well do so. Bicarb and vinegar down the shower, sink, or bath will help to keep pipes clear., but really used as a preventative measure.

To keep a property free from mould the temperature can’t drop below 16, if you’ve got one storage heater you aren’t using this will probably be the reason for the mould.

Awaabs law passed in 2023... its named after a little boy who died from mold and clearly states its an urgent issue that landlord can not deflect blame onto tenants for.

Even condensation mold is a LANDLORDS duty as it show the property does not meet current ventilation standards and tenants are rightly allowed to undertake normal living activities like showering, cooking and dry clothes.

LOL is that you, Peter Rachman?

I hope you aren’t a landlord as your knowledge of UK laws is pitiful.

The landlord has to provide adequate heating for the property, adequate ventilation so that mould isn’t an issue (eg trickle vents, opening windows, extraction fans if there isn’t an opening window in a kitchen or bathroom etc). A landlord can’t ignore their legal responsibilities just because a tenant agreed to a tenancy for a substandard illegal property. Try arguing that defence in court 😂

We have been wiping the mold away every few days with warm water and washing up liquid, as well as ventilating the house. Surely it shouldn’t be growing back so soon?

Agreed. I’d be wondering what the real cause is. I am a landlord op. Legally you have to have a proper heat source in every room. You don’t. Mould is the landlord’s issue, especially so when the property doesn’t have a proper source of heating.

To add to the I would wonder if the whole property is compliant. Someone mentioned an EPC. Do you have one of those? What about and electrical safety check certificate? I take it there’s no gas. You also need and annual gas safety certificate if there is gas.

Is the property compliant at all? Are there smoke detectors and CO2 detectors if there is gas? The landlord also supposed to have a Legionella Assessment Certificate this is a risk assessment carried out on the pipe work to test for the risk of legionnaires disease. Do you have one of these?

Stop using washing up liquid to wipe mould away, it's unnecessary. Get yourself some HG mould spray and follow the instructions.

amzn.eu/d/454WK8T

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/withholding_rent_for_repairs

You need to bleach the mold, that is what kills it, not soapy water. It the bathroom ventilated? You can request he installs more efficient ventilation system in the bathroom.

So you blocked both therefore you pay

Washing up liquid won't have any effect. Use white vinegar or proper mould removal

If your pop and your hair caused the blockage, it’s fair for you to pay. Expecting that is not the landlord being stingy.

The mould is the landlord’s responsibility if it’s coming from outside.

When did you last empty the shower drain of hair for it to be so bad that it blocked and flooded?
This is your issue not the landlord's
Will the building insurance even cover the damage if it's down to your negligence? I'm not sure.

You are talking nonsense and should not be giving “advice”. The op needs to speak to Shelter or a damp specialist.

Your feeding the mould this way not getting rid of it. Mould likes damp all you are doing is spreading spores further.

Buy a mould spray and treat it properly.

That’s not accurate . Legally a landlord needs to provide heating for every habitatal room, but this doesn’t mean the heat source needs to be in the room. Simply the heat sources in the property must be capable of heating the habitual rooms. Itrelvant of where they are located. The tenant also has a legal obligation to heat the property and not let it fall below certain temperatures.

the storage heater is in the living room so likely something is required for the bedrooms.

however I’m not sure the op would use them if provided, due to cost. Leaving windows open can reduce mould but as the property is not heated it likely will make it worse as it will get damp and colder.

op, it must be miserable in there, I can’t imagine how awful it must be in a unheated property with the windows open in this weather. If the property remains unheated the mould will continue to get worse. And it is very bad for your health to be breathing that in.

the mould isn’t going to go, no matter how much you clean it, because the damp is there causing it. The property needs to be dried out and heated.

our last rental had two storage heaters that didn’t work, the landlord just left convector heaters for every room.

massive trip hazards and £300 a month in heating (would be £600-800 now I’d imagine).

Hi OP.

None of those things would have helped, you needed to plunge the toilet to dislodge the blockage. If the toilet flush is poor , fill a mop bucket to flush daily, the force of the water will
ensure the waste is flushed away.

Also for your drains including your shower drain, buy some drain drain in locker leave over night once a month, I use a bottle for every drain we have, the shower drain I have a hair wire brush that I unclog weekly with.

Personally the property sounds more of a hindrance, I’d be looking to move asap.

Other PPs have already quoted the law to you. Damp and mould can be caused by both structural and lifestyle issues.

No one can know what the issue is for sure without inspecting the property. On the balance of probabilities, based on what OP has told us, 1 storage heater for the entire property is unlikely to meet the legal requirement for the landlord to provide an adequate heat source for each room. The bathroom has no window and no heating. If the bathroom doesn’t have adequate ventilation for the tenant to be able to ventilate it (eg a powerful enough extraction fan) and no heating, that is the landlord’s responsibility.

OP I suggest you ask environmental health to inspect the property.

Whilst other posters have quoted some legislation they have not quoted legislation in their entirety and therefore incompletely.
I would suggest that anyone who is in any doubt should look at the causes of black mould and act accordingly.
To clarify. There could be a leak in the property (landlord’s responsibility) but if there is black mould- even on that damp patch - it is the tenants responsibility.
fyi. Placing a laughter emoji in your answer does not make it any more accurate. It simply makes you look silly.

I don’t think the LL is BU in asking you to pay. You’ve not been cleaning the shower AND let it overflow to the point it caused damage downstairs, and you blocked the toilet. Being a tenant does not absolve you of the responsibility to do basic cleaning and care.

I don't think you have quite grasped that you will only get rid of mould if you actually heat the house.

Breathing, cooking, showering, boiling kettles, drying washing all generate water, which will condense on your cold walls and cause mould.

You need a dehumidifier in each room, and you also need to heat the rooms. I don't know the law, but I can't quite believe a house rented out with no heating is okay in 2024.

Your landlord should provide central heating or enough electric heaters to do a proper job of heating the whole house. If he won't, then buy the oil filled radiators mentioned, and take then with you when you move.

Mould needs more than washing up liquid to kill it, get a mould cleaner.
And heat the house properly, and we are due a cold snap, so get to an electrical shop tomorrow for the radiator and dehumidifier

So relieved somebody suggested a plunger. But not until page 4! You need one of these OP. And get a couple of Mr Muscle drain unblockers for the cupboard.

My own toilet's only ever blocked once, after a man took a big shit in it and just closed the lid and left it there and hoped I wouldn't notice I've never blocked a toilet as an adult because I flush a big poo away by itself, toilet paper gets its own flush.

I would contact the council about the mould. They'll send environmental health, who will tell you the cause of the mould and what responsibility your landlord has towards rectifying it.