free cavity wall insulation for tenants on benefits???

want2bmortgage3

after renting out my maisonette i advised the tenant to apply for this offer, but apparently they cant proceed as the property is not a 'house'. has anyone experience of this offer? the property is a 2 bedroom maisonette on the ground floor in a block of 4.

the tenant said the damp problem is getting worse (condensation due to cold walls) which is why i thought insulation would be the answer. but how can i get it done if its only the ground floor and will affect the neighbours too (but surely in a good way)?

Fire_Fox

If the problem is condensation then insulating the walls will only shift the damp to settling on the next coldest surface. Ventilation or a dehumidifer is needed.

want2bmortgage3

ventilation isnt really possible in this cold weather as its so cold and all the heat will escape, even with windows just on the latches. i left the tenant with a small dehumidifier but i'm not sure if she's using it.

i lived in the property long enough to know that with careful cooking/clothes drying, that it isnt a big problem, but my tenant has children so is probably doing a lot more washing / drying and cooking than i did.

i have asked if she has a tumble dryer as this would help reduce condensation. if she hasn't got one then is it up to her or me to provide a tumble dryer if it will help with the damp?

Jowo_2

Many local housing and local council housing websites publish leaflets to advise their tenants how to avoid condensation that leads to mould. Find the best one and send a copy to the tenant to educate them how to avoid it.

Tenants are obligated to act in a tenant like manner and this includes things like adequately heating/ventilating the property. They are responsible for any costs associated with damage that comes from their behaviour - failing to open windows/use fans when cooking and showering, not putting lids on boiling pans, drying wet clothing indoors.

While some damp/mould issues are due to maintenance and design defects, most is due to tenant behaviour and lifestyle and they often assume it is the landlord's fault and problem to remedy.

On the Landlordzone website there is an excellent .pdf document for landlords about condensation and mould, how to prevent and treat it. Put 'mould' into their search facility to find it.

poppysarah

Might be due to construction rather than it not being a "house"

want2bmortgage3

thanks , as i know the property is vunerable to damp from the slightest bit of condensation , i am going to buy a tumble dryer for the tenant. as well as this though i will print out some information on condensation for the tenant to read.

spoke to the tenant, the insulation person came round but said the neighbour above would need to pay for their share of the insulation and he does not want to do this as he doesnt have a damp problem.

marcg

Cavity wall insulation is tiny balls of polystyrene blown into the cavity by a reversed-vacuum-cleaner-thingie. Practically this could work for a ground floor maisonette but it will be difficult to do properly if you are trying to only fill the bottom bit of the house - they normally just keep going until it is full.

So, unless the guy upstairs is willing, I don't think it is do-able.

Fire_Fox

want2bmortgage3 wrote: »

ventilation isnt really possible in this cold weather as its so cold and all the heat will escape, even with windows just on the latches. i left the tenant with a small dehumidifier but i'm not sure if she's using it.

i lived in the property long enough to know that with careful cooking/clothes drying, that it isnt a big problem, but my tenant has children so is probably doing a lot more washing / drying and cooking than i did.

i have asked if she has a tumble dryer as this would help reduce condensation. if she hasn't got one then is it up to her or me to provide a tumble dryer if it will help with the damp?

It's perfectly possible to ventilate on a daily basis, this is my fourth winter doing so (Yorkshire, north facing flat)!! I find it works best if you have one full blast through every dry day rather than leaving windows on the latch all the time, if it's raining I obviously don't bother. When it's snowy or frosty in the daytime I shut the internal doors and ventilate one room at a time.

If I am air drying very waterlogged laundry, such as towels, I may shut it in one room with the window open or partially open. I might leave the windows on a latch when, say, I go to the supermarket so doesn't matter if it's cold while I am out. Few people have their heating on 24/7, so there is always an opportunity to ventilate without wasting all the heat.

If you provide a tumble dryer you will then be responsible for annual safety testing, and for it's repair or replacement if/ when it goes wrong. Dehumidifiers are cheaper to run and at least as effective, but you do need the right capacity for the property. Don't let your tenant run rings around you, if the problem is condensation and you have provided the means to rectify the issue SHE is responsible for any mould or water damage.

want2bmortgage3

thanks firefox - daily ventilation sounds like a good idea, even if its just open all the windows wide for 5 mins each day right ?? i do know how easily the property can get damp and a tumble dryer improved things for me, i just took it with me when i moved out! i did leave a dishwasher though.

i could get a bigger dehumidifier but they can be noisy and i think would be easy for a tenant to forget to switch it on, plus its affecting more than one room. other than clothes drying i can only think of the kitchen as another source of condensation. the extractor fan doesnt vent outside as it was a bigger job than expected at the time (tiles on the outside of where the ducting would go out). i did sort out the bathroom though and bought a powerful extractor fan which comes on 2 mins after the lights on and stays on a while after.

sjcollett

Find out if the tenant is using the smaller dehumidifier you supplied first before investing in another.

Gorgeous_George

Tenants will not ventilate the property because they think it will cost them money. In truth, it will save them money because a dry home takes less heating.

I bought a dehumidifier (£100) for my BTL property as I knew my tenant was drying clothes in the property and I wanted to head off potential problems.

I also fitted heating upstairs around the same time. Lo and behold a few months later black mould had formed on a patch of the bedroom ceiling (a strip about 14 inches wide). I guessed that the loft insulation was missing and a physical inspection confirmed this was the case. The loft had been insulated some years ago but only with about an inch of rockwool. (The recent upstairs heating had made the area of the ceiling with no insulation the focus of the condensation.)

After the loft was reinsulated to modern standards and the mould cleaned with mould killer, the problem has gone away.

Top tip: Use the water collected by the dehumidifier in your iron to save some more money.

GG