How to Avoid Mould in this situation

[EKnaring]

Hey everyone,

This is more of a retrospective post. I have been in a joint tenancy with two other people and it started in August. Due to conflict between us about cleaning (they didn’t do it and became hypocritical), I stopped staying there as much and instead stayed with my husband partner. Which is just as good because we found out a few months later that I’m pregnant!

I haven’t stayed overnight in the flat since before Christmas, probably November time but I can’t recall. I came back a few times to collect post etc.

Now, it’s time to do the end of tenancy clean. I’m 33 weeks pregnant, have hardly lived here and the other two are staying for an extra month/extended tenancy anyways. So, I think it’s fair that I won’t do much communal cleaning.

However, when cleaning my room I’ve noticed there is a whole lot of mould in the wooden skirting boards and some mould/damp patches on the walls too. My window has been open and closed sporadically to allow air in, but I’m wondering if I should have thought about that a bit more to prevent this?

There were some damp patches when I moved in which could have been a small indicator of the structural problems but not as bad as this. There were also marks on the walls, but in general I’m now feeling deflated because my landlord is surely going to keep my deposit now. Just wondering what I should have done to avoid this? Please be gentle with me!

You can't stop mould that's as a result of the property having a damp problem. All you can do is minimise it. Which means window open for a period of time every day. And using something to clean the mould off as soon as it arises, every time, even if that's daily.

It's good you've not been staying there. Mould spores are in the air long before you can see any mould. It can affect health. Don't rent damp properties in future.

If your LL was happy to rent a damp property they're not a good LL and DGAF about you. You're not getting that deposit back. If it's a joint tenancy you're all responsible for the cleaning. It's not a case of one person doesn't clean their room so that person doesn't get any deposit back. You're also responsible for the communal cleaning because you're a tenant, regardless of whether you've actually been there. Morally your housemates should clean up their mess, but if they're happy to leave mess in the first place I think it's fair to say they have no morals about it, so good luck with that one! Maybe their rooms are damp too and they could already tell due to this the LL isn't the type to act decently and return the deposit, so figured why bother to look after the property.

If you're no longer living there you need to get yourself off that tenancy ASAP otherwise as a tenant you're still responsible for bills etc. In a joint tenancy you're usually all jointly and severally liable, meaning you're all liable for the entire amount and the bills companies don't care which of you pays it or how it's split between you. So if the others leave without paying eg the council tax upto date and give no forwarding address, but it's known where you now live, it's you who'll be getting chased for that debt.

If it's an HMO and you all have your own separate rental agreement with the LL, then I guess the communal cleaning maybe isn't down to you if the others are staying on. I'm guessing bills would have been included in the rent in that case and not paid for separately to rent. So if it's a HMO just clean your room properly, take photos as evidence, preferably with a newspaper with the cleaning day's date on it in the shot so the LL can't claim your pics are old and the room was left a state. Or pay for professional cleaning and keep the receipt as evidence if you don't want to clean it yourself. You haven't caused the damp problem the LL has (by not repairing it) but they always try to argue the tenant caused the mould with condensation from inadequate ventilation (and whilst you didn't cause the initial structural damp problem, you also probably haven't been there daily opening the window have you), so if you don't want the deposit docked for it and if it's visible staining after cleaning, then you'll need to redecorate.

Having said all that, at 33 weeks pregnant and you don't seem to really know or understand what you're liable for, I'd just ensure my name was off the tenancy agreement and had paid my share of any bills, remove my belongings (or bin them if contaminated with mould), refuse to leave a forwarding address if you've not already told them, not bother cleaning anything at all in the property and kiss my deposit goodbye. It's probably the easiest option in the circumstances. Especially if you're moving in with your partner and don't need any kind of reference from this LL.

If you are paying any bills separately from rent, ensure you contact each company including the council and tell them you've moved out on X date. Preferably phone call so it's dealt with instantly and follow up by email for the paper trail as evidence.

You'll need to provide meter readings for gas and electric (and water? If there's a meter, I've no idea how to read it, perhaps you ask the company to?) they'll then issue a final bill.

Pay your share of these final bills and cross your fingers and hope other housemates pay their share (because the company could otherwise come after you, they won't care who pays it they'll go for the easiest target).

The housemates will have to start up new bills in only their names for the last period of time they're remaining in the property.