Mold issues with rented property

[Raiseyourglass26]

This has probably been done to death on here, but I'm after some advice.

Im currently renting a flat within an old building which has mold issues within the bathroom and front bedroom (both by the front door) I've used mold and mildew spray which does get rid of it, but it keeps returning. I open the bedroom windows each morning for minimum of 30 minutes and have a dehumidifier in there. I also ensure the bathroom window is opened and door closed after each shower.

I contacted letting agency 6 weeks ago and they came out to inspect the property, took pictures and said they would speak to landlord. 4 weeks go by and I've had no correspondence from anyone so I contact landlord directly and she said she was not aware of the problem until I contacted her and she would arrange for someone to come out. This was over 2 weeks ago and I've had no response again.

I have explained to both letting agency and LL that we have a baby currently sleeping in the bedroom with us and the mold is on the wall beside her bed.

What would the next best step for me to take? Our rental agreement is up at end of Feb, but we're not in a good financial position to move out so I would like to avoid this if possible, but I find it infuriating that they have chosen to ignore me regarding the issue.

I have to ask, how are you drying your washing?

And are you heating the property properly?

I dry it on the pulley in our kitchen.

Heating is on all day practically as I'm on maternity leave

Is your heating on?

Why haven't you been more formal? Email letting agent and say .... I contacted you on xxx. On xxx I contacted owner, she said unaware. Please confirm exact date yuh contacted her....
what is the next course of action.

Pin them down and make them put it in writing so that you've got a paper trail.

You need to start planning to move.

We let out a property and our tenants have mold where we didn't. I now feel a mug going and doing the following. I commissioned a damp survey and have fitted air blocks as well as buying a £100 dehumidifier. We had no damp in the 10 years we lived there and the tenants were clearly not ventalating properly and drying things inside 😬

It's the drying clothes inside that is a problem for mold

Yes, you need a tumble dryer. And for your landlord to confirm that there are no building issues.

BTW what is the epc rating on your old flat ?

special should the LL be supplying the tumble dryer or is that my responsibility? We do have a garden, but it's covered in my neighbours dogs mess that he refuses to clean up despite being asked to by myself and several neighbours so I don't like going out there and refuse to take dd out there as well with me to hang the washing.

Energy efficiency rating is grade E from an assessment in 2012

I am at the suggestion that this is your fault. You're clearly ventilating the house, you're running a dehumidifier and you have little choice but to dry your clothes on an airer at present. Also, that airer is in the kitchen, which I'm assuming is a separate room from the bedroom where you are sleeping.

Some houses are just really cold and damp. What windows do you have and what heating? I stayed in a place with wood single glazing and no central heating (the landlords were headbanging Christians, and apparently their faith included miraculous heating by Jesus) and the mould was terrible. No amount of squeegeeing every morning and having the windows open made a dent in it. I was desperately poor at the time (below the level that you would be on benefits) and couldn't afford to move. I ended up getting asthma.

Pursue your letting agent and LL: be polite but contact them every day if need be. There are collectives of renters springing up all over the place to fight for better rights -it might be worth checking whether there is one in your area that can help. Citizens' Advice is also a good point of call if you don't get anywhere with the letting agent.

Sorry, that should be "below the level that anyone would be on benefits", not you personally OP!

Some houses are just notoriously prone to mould because of the materials they are build from and a difficulty in properly heating and ventilating them. It's possible that there is really itching much your landlord can do, especially if you are drying your laundry in the house but without a condensing tumble dryer.

You might need to just buy one, or move.

If the tenancy agreement that you signed said that the landlord provides a tumble dryer, he does. Otherwise you do.

Speak to the landlord about the filth from the neighbour and work together to get him to clean up. Also if the neighbour is a tenant, his landlord needs to know.

As above - some houses just get mould,especially old ones . uk climate. Mine does in the old parts, and same as you I clean it up. Just been round drying windows after that very cold night. Once mould is there it is almost impossible to eliminate totally.

The epc rating showed you what the house is like, although it is not at the level which would make it illegal to rent in a year or so.

Have you got a pedestal fan? They're good for drying walls and cost pennies to run.

Special My older house an EPC of E, but the kicker at the end of the EPC is this:
'The dwelling has a type of wall that is not included in the available options. The nearest equivalent type was used for the assessment.

The dwelling has stone walls and may be exposed to wind driven rain, and so requires further investigation to establish whether these walls are of cavity construction and to determine which kind of cavity wall insulation is best suited. The property also requires further consideration of how to access the walls for cavity wall installation'.

Thus, the EPC software can't cope with older houses (mine was built in 1835) that have solid stone and rubble walls. I'd like to see anyone get cavity wall insulation into my walls...there are no cavities and they are very thick and solid.! The insulation we had done was ignored as we had done it before EPCs were introduced, and the assessor was most indignant that I couldn't produce receipts from 16 years ago (1998) when we added more insulation. He ignored the brand new boiler, as it wasn't condensing (as we have a range that does the CH, HW and cooking). If anything we had done wasn't by a 'registered installer', then it couldn't count, which is a load of bollocks, and jobs for the boys if you ask me.

What gets me is that I am far warmer in my E rated house in the UK, than I am in the A rated house we rent in Belgium. The utility bills in the UK are far smaller as well.

scaryteacher don't get me wrong - the EPC is an almost useless document. The computer models cannot cope with much UK housing stock. The one for my rental (grade C, but extremely warm and well-insulated) recommends I add a wind turbine, or even solar panels. The document calculates that the solar panels will pay off in a century. I kid you not.

The point of the question was to see if the OP's rental fell into the 'get evicted in 2017' category, in which case there is no chance of getting the landlord to fix anything. A large number of older properties, especially in London, will become unlettable.

sorry. April 2018 is when properties below E grade become illegal to rent out. Not 2017.

I never knew that. I'll need to look into that further! Thanks Special

Looks like it's only houses with ratings f or g that are in England and Wales this applys to. We're in Scotland so not the same rules it seems

I love how some are suggesting it's your fault for drying washing inside. We're in the UK, in winter, how else are you supposed to fucking do it?

Every place I've rented, I've dried washing inside and I've never had damp. If you're running the heating and regularly ventilating the property, this isn't your fault. The place I rented before last was an old victorian property with an E certificate and we did not have mold.

I know it's not really your fault. A house that is prone to damp is awful, no matter how much heating and ventilating you do but even the slightest amount of indoor drying can make it really mouldy. We've always lived in rural cottages and damp is so SO common in old houses like that.
Our last was mouldy for years and I knew it was my husband's obsession with never "wasting a radiator" by not drying washing on it. However, I couldn't put up with his bitching about his mould related bad asthma any longer and told him if he was so determined to radiator dry clothes, he had better never mention the damp ever again, OR, we could use the tumble drier every time and a small airer in the kitchen for wools etc.

He chose the drier. The electric bills went up but the damp all but disappeared after the last clean off. We actually saved money by having to not bin mould ruined furniture. His asthma also improved dramatically.

My advice: get a (outside vented not condenser) tumble drier or move to a more modern house I'm afraid.

Hellmouth, some UK properties are just not suited to indoor drying whatever the climate. It's a hundred different factors such as how it heats, how the walls are insulated, how much ventilation there is and where in the property it's located. The age and what the property is built with too.
Some houses just suck and get mouldy quickly. Also, once you get mould, the spores make it a persistent fecker that never truly leaves.

I am in the UK and it is winter. I dry washing outside on the right days. If I was in a position where I couldn't do that, I would buy a tumble dryer. I don't want to wreck my house by filling it with condensation.

Tumble driers are not pricey and the cost of the electricity is just something you have to budget for. Or heat and ventilate properly or both.

Living costs.