Mould in rented flat

loulou41

I just had my daughter on the phone in tears. It is three months since she has moved in her rented 2 beds flat and she is paying £900 for it. She has a wardrobe where she keeps clothes she does not regualry wear in it. Today she opened it and found mould on her expensive clothes and shoes, she is in tears and had to throw them away. Is there anything she can do, she has left a message to the EA but it is closed? She said, her clothes look disgustinig. She has not sorted out contents insurance yet, therefore cannot claim from the insurance but I would have thought insurance will not cover damage caused by mould. Please, please can somebody offer some advice what she needs to and whether it is safe to sleep in that room? Will she be able to ask compensation from the landl ord for her ruined clothes? At £900 a month, the flat is not cheap and you would expect a decent place for that price. She is on 1 yr contract. Thanks

BallandChain

I don't have any legal advice to give but just wanted to say that me and OH are in a similar situation. We rented this place on a 6 month lease and a couple of months ago the mould started to appear on the walls in every room! The landlord had painted over the damp, mouldy walls before we viewed the property so we had no idea what the place was like. Only when the previous tenant came round for their post they let it slip about all the 'hidden' damp.

When we come to move in a couple of months (thank God!) I wanted to know if along with cleaning the place we are liable for cleaning mould off walls? If we left it would they take money out of our deposit?

Luckily I had already prepared with putting clothes in plastic sealed boxes and I got the landlord to provide a dehumidifier too which has helped. It's a shame your daughter is on a one year contract Loulou as I know if the landlord was to put right the damp problems while she is living there she'd have to carry on with her tenancy agreement. (If I have got that wrong someone will correct me.)

They wanted to do structural work while we are here and I said no as I'm sick to death of workmen and we are leaving soon anyway. They should have fixed the problems before any tenants moved in.

Gorgeous_George

You need to keep houses ventilated. Alternatively, buy a dehumidifier.

The LL may be able to help by installing air bricks or by ensuring that the windows and doors don't fit properly.

Chances are the walls need to be insulated.

GG

loulou41

Thanks, in the meantime what can she do to prevent any more damage to her clothes. She has removed them from the fitted wardrobe. I think, she can threaten the EA that this is a health issue and she wants to be out early. This is really driving her crazy & she gets upset very easily and on top of that she has to study for her MA as she has exams in January.

Debt_Free_Chick

loulou41 wrote: »

Thanks, in the meantime what can she do to prevent any more damage to her clothes. She has removed them from the fitted wardrobe. I think, she can threaten the EA that this is a health issue and she wants to be out early. This is really driving her crazy & she gets upset very easily and on top of that she has to study for her MA as she has exams in January.

She needs to identify the cause of the mould - damp, yes - but is this a leak letting water in? Or is it lack of ventilation, causing condensation?

As it's a fitted wardrobe, I suggest she clears it out and looks for evidence of damp caused by a leak. The signs of penetrating water or rising damp will be visible (water stains).

Is there any other sign of damp in the room or the flat?

Identify the cause and then deal with it.

bristol_pilot

Are clothes being dried anywhere in the flat? Doing this, even on a small scale, often leads to condensation as it puts such a huge amount of water vapour into the air.

Gorgeous_George

At this time of year, it is nearly always lack of ventilation.

An uninsulated outside wall (with the wardrobe next to it) will attract all the steam from the shower/bathroom and clothes being dried on the radiators. Tenants tend to keep all windows closed to save heat and the moisture has nowhere else to go. It gathers on the coldest part of the outside walls.

A dehumidifier really might be the answer and the water that is gathered can be used in the steam iron.

GG

skintandscared_2

My old flat was built about 20 years ago and the ventilation was pathetic, but apparently complied with the building regs at the time. Anyone with wooden wardrobes found the back of them mouldy in no time. I bought a dehumidifier and if I opened all doors and left it running in the hallway, it kept the whole flat dry. You can buy pots of absorbant crystals that draw moisture from the air which can be put in the oven, dried out and re-used over and over again. I would also leave small windows open whenever at home, to increase ventilation.

olly300

Lots of people including landlords put in fitted wardrobes as they think it's good storage and nice looking storage. Unfortunately they put them on outside walls very often leading to problems.

If condensation collects on an outside wall that either forms the back of a wardrobe or the back/side of the wardrobe is close to it but air can't flow freely all around then because the condensation can't evaporate it turns to mould.

paintpot

Yep, I've got a call out to a tenant with the exact same problem today fitted wardrobe/damp/mould on an external wall. I'm going to take a look to check there are no structural defects like leaky gutter but if not then I need to find a solution subject to what I find e.g more ventiliation, airbrick, insulating the wall, crystals etc etc. It's confined the that area so it sounds like the usual....

olly300 wrote: »

Lots of people including landlords put in fitted wardrobes as they think it's good storage and nice looking storage. Unfortunately they put them on outside walls very often leading to problems.

If condensation collects on an outside wall that either forms the back of a wardrobe or the back/side of the wardrobe is close to it but air can't flow freely all around then because the condensation can't evaporate it turns to mould.

cg1982

i got mould but its rising damp so they got to insulate the walls