To think mould issues are one of the biggest triggers for retaliatory evictions?

[TheNavyAnt]

I keep seeing situations where tenants report damp or mould and suddenly the landlord/agent becomes hostile - inspections ramp up, nitpicking begins or a Section 21 magically appears soon after.

AIBU to think mould is one of the most common things that leads to landlords trying to push tenants out, simply because fixing it costs money?

Oh god I hate mould. In my old flat, no matter how hard we tried we always got mouldy spots around the windows. I was absolutely anal with ventilation, drying clothes in the dryer only, running an electric dehumidifier for hours on end, having the heating on, had small crystal collecting moisture traps on every window sill and every cupboard (literally), cleaning all the mould spots with bleach. It would always, always come back. So frustrating.

eta that we lived there for ten years as the flat was otherwise unbelievably convenient. We ended up getting told off by the landlord and claiming we should have treated the walls and painted before we left. Needless to say the flat was absolutely not freshly decorated when we moved in! Previous tenant told me it hadn't been decorated in the 6 years they lived there, so landlords expected walls to look flawless and no mould spots after 16 years 😂🤣 they ended up keeping £100 from my deposit as a "cleaning fee"... 🙄😂

They're not talking about surface mould from condensation/ drying clothes etc that can be cleaned off.

It's where there are building issues and there is severe damp etc.

Not to mention it is a contractual commitment for the landlord, so why should the tenant pay rent based on the landlord being responsible and then also pay for repairs?

In one of my tenanted houses, for the first year I owned it, it had the original, wooden, draughty windows. No mould. By the second year I'd had it all double glazed and suddenly there was condensation and mould everywhere.

I think this thread has demonstrated that a fair proportion are caused by the lifestyle of the tenant but of course some are genuine building issues. The tenant should sort out the former but not the latter

Needing to replaster is not a serious issue that cannot be done with tenants in-situ. With enough experience, a decent plasterer could plaster an entire 3-bed semi in a day.

Most roofing repairs can be done without removing the entire roof. What do you think homeowners do when they need replastering work or roofing work done.

It's not that the tenants can't be there it is that the LL CBA to fox it so would rather blame the tenants than actually fix the issue. Or in the case of SH it is usually that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing, hence the coming out to look at the damp weekly but never doing anything to actually fix it.

They tried to send someone round to paint a damp seal on the plastered walls, while they are still wet, and before the plastering repairs have been done, but I refused because I want the issue fixing not made worse. The decorating team was not aware that the plastering team even had a job booked in, or that the damp was still an issue. They were just told to seal the walls, so that is what they turned up to do. I imagine that had I not known the issues this could cause and allowed the work to go ahead, that would also have been my fault.

I wouldn't want my kids sleeping in a bedroom of wet plaster. From memory it doest dry in a day and the mess isn't something I could move my kids furniture into the middle of the room for and still sleep in that room. Everytime we have plastered the rooms have been emptied first. We don't have massive bedrooms

Who knows? I do because i bloody lived there with her. Honestly this fucking site when it comes to housing

A damp proof course is only protection against rising damp which would mainly manifest at ground level. If you've got damp all up your walls and on your ceiling a new damp proof course is unlikely to do much.

You really need to figure out where the moisture is coming from to find the correct fix.

“Redo the ventilation”? Just open the fucking window

The point that you seem to be struggling to understand is that just because that lifestyle apparently didn’t cause damp in your mothers house doesn’t mean that it won’t in a lot of other houses.

We got our house insulated and were warned that replacing the windows without insulating the walls was a very common way to get mould. This is because the coldest point of the room would no longer be the windows but rather the walls. You can ventilate the house to prevent it, but it happens very easily.

We live in a very damp country with a lots old properties. Energy to run tumble dryers, dehumidifiers is very expensive. We don’t have enough dry weather to dry outdoors. It’s cold regularly opening windows. It’s a perfect storm for damp.

@JenniferBooth I don’t think it’s ’this Site’. I think both things can be true.

My previous land lord tried to blame me because i had 3 items of clean, dry clothing on the bed when he came to do an inspection. This was his evidence that I was drying washing on the radiators without ventilating properly. In fairness, according to his standards (leave windows open all day and night, or dry washing in a laundrette) I wasn’t.

Oddly enough, no other place I’ve rented had the problem and my currently owned house doesn’t either. Because I know to ventilate and heat a place properly! (And, no, I don’t need to leave windows open 24/7 to avoid mould.)

So swearing will restore a damp course that's been bridged will it?

I did a course in building conservation and was told that the way to get rid of mould is to create conditions in which it can't thrive, rather than to use mould killers.

Side note: if you add enough middle-aged surveyors on LinkedIn you can watch them argue bitterly about whether or not rising damp is a myth. Hours of fun, so long as you're slightly dull 😁

This happened to a nice large estate of beautiful, large family homes by our street. There are so many of them boarded. They are working on it, but it is so slow, and so sad to see these homes boarded up.
We actually celebrated when two of them by a corner on the main street were sorted and occupied. They have a gorgeous wrap around the front gardens. Now full with Christmas decorations!

I did not know it had happend in other places....

Well if you read my comment properly you'll see I said if it's a structural reason for the mould i.e. property in a bad state of repair, then it's the landlord's responsibility. So calm down.

No, but it's an understable reaction to a ridiculous comment. No one needs to 're-do ventilation'. Ventilation is opening a window.

Rising damp is a totally different matter and nothing to do with ventilation. If you had said "tenants can't be expected to re-do a damp course", then everyone would have agreed with you. I'm guessing you accidently typed the completely wrong thing. No problem - so just say "oops, sorry - I meant to write damp course rather than ventilation". Don't get shirty with people for reacting to the silly thing that you actually wrote.

Seriously? I can't imagine this is controversial - particularly as I've many times seen the effect of failing damp courses as well as the curative effect of having them re-done. How interesting/baffling.

Probably because no double glazing, poor insulation, wooden doors that didn't quite fit meant it was draughty and well ventilated without opening windows.

This. The cause of damp must be addressed, and unless it’s a case of tenants drying all their washing indoors and never opening any windows, then IMO it’s down to the LL, and I say this s a LL myself.

Having said that, the new Renters’ Rights Bill, soon to come into effect, means that no-fault evictions will be illegal.

I rent out my house that I lived in for 20 years without a single spot of mould. Our first tenant stayed for nearly 5 years- no mould.

Our second tenant has thrown away our curtains and blinds ( curtains were £1400!!!!) because they were 'covered in mould'. All the walls downstairs have mould. This is of course our fault as landlords, we need to fix it bla bla.

Except this tenant doesn't put the heating on and dries clothes inside. Never opens a window as it's 'too cold'. But whatever we say its our fault, she will not accept basic science around condensation. We've had 3 builders round who have all agreed. Feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall.

She can afford to put the heating on (according to the credit check they earn £85k between them, no kids, don't have a car or any debts) but won't.

Builders, in general, know fuck all about damp; you need a surveyor or damp specialist.

There are also steps you can take to minimise and prevent damp without running the heat all day with the windows open and never doing any washing during the winter, including lime plaster in mould-prone areas, stain block paint, air bricks in bathrooms, kitchens, and poorly ventilated areas, etc.

My parents dry washing on radiators. They do not have a dehumidifier. They do have triple glazing and properly fitted doors. They do not have mould because the house has been properly maintained with the correct, good-quality materials.