Letting problems!

sparkellie

Help! I am currently letting from a private landlord through an agency with my husband and young son.
There is mould growing in all rooms of the house and the letting agent says that they have provided us with dehumidifiers and to keep the windows open and the heating on. I am concerned for my sons health and worried we wong be able to get out of our lease as we have signed for 2 years.
A neighbour told us that the previous tenants left because of damp problems yet no one seems able to help us.
The letting agent also said that as it is not rising damp basically its condensation, does this make a difference? If we owned the house we would be looking for a solution to the problem, but because we only rent no one is interested in helping us :mad:
Does anyone know if we can get out of our lease or force the landlady/letting agent to do something about this??
I am currently waiting to hear from the environmental health section of our local council.

CloudCuckooLand

An entire house does not suffer from condensation, imo. Particular rooms - say where multiple people sleep, as their breathing creates condensation, yes. Or the kitchen & bathroom, washing on a clothes horse, etc etc.

Keep all your "water activites" to one room as far as possible. See if the problem shifts with it. Keep sleeping rooms warm and dehumidified.

Environmental Health is a good move. One you probably have to go through to get a slum landlord to act.

Most likely its really shoddy and cheap windows, lack of double-glazing, lack of insulation and so on.

If EH doesn't enforce directly, get quotes for what needs to doing to resolve the situation and threaten to carry out the work and deduct the costs from rent if the LL doesn't do it for you.

clutton_2

i have had some rooms in some of my property black from top to bottom because tenants dried their washing in there with no window open - the next tenant used the back yard and there was no more black mould.... i have also had mould in bedrooms where 2-3 children sleep with shut windows and its never ventilated.....

do you open windows after you have bathed/showered and when you cook ?

have you got single or double glazing ?

are you using the dehumidifers provided - how much water are they extracting ?

tbs624

Have you checked the outside of the property for things such as missing pointing between bricks, cracked rendering, blocked gutters, stuff stacked against walls above the DPC?

Yes, condensation can be attributable (partly or fully) to occupant lifestyle but if a previous T has had issues it's likely that the property wasn't fully aired/dried out before you moved in which will exacerbate things for you.

Useful info from Haringey Council on how damp and condensation can be dealt with see here : there may be some changes you can make to improve things but you are doing the right thing by involving your own local Council.

The LA/LL have also done the right thing by providing dehumidifiers but they should be run with the windows *shut*. You still need to air the place by allowing air circulation from open windows, at other times.

As for heating , especially with the current cold snap, it is apparently better to keep heating on low for longer periods than to whack it up high for a couple of hours and then switch off, as this may add to the condensation.

dizziblonde

Dunno if they'll work but I'm about to buy a few of these http://www.lakeland.co.uk/moisture-trap/F/keyword/moisture/product/21538 to put in the rooms in our house that still have single glazing (we've got an octagonal window - very PlaySchool that I doubt somehow we're going to ever be able to find a double glazing company to do) and see how they work catching the condensation we're getting on the windows. Figure for the cost of 'em it's worth a shot.

Geenie

My mother and brother live in houses that suffer from condensation, and they own them, so it is not a particular thing that tenants are getting, it is a fact for some houses in this country, and has to be put up with to a certain degree, or move.

Theirs were built in the 1930's....lovely proportions, have double glazing, but no cavity walls! Along with gas fires, including the trendy gas "open fire" in marble surrounds, they both have to have dehumidifiers going constantly this time of year because of condensation. Brother spent a tidy amount on a fantastic bathroom, but is constantly getting the bleach out and repainting because of mould on the walls. Their street is one of many in the city built at the same time, so I can't imagine they are the only ones putting up with this!

Good luck OP, and I would suggest moving if this level of condensation and damp is not to your liking.

tomitma

dizziblonde wrote: »

Dunno if they'll work but I'm about to buy a few of these http://www.lakeland.co.uk/moisture-trap/F/keyword/moisture/product/21538 to put in the rooms in our house that still have single glazing (we've got an octagonal window - very PlaySchool that I doubt somehow we're going to ever be able to find a double glazing company to do) and see how they work catching the condensation we're getting on the windows. Figure for the cost of 'em it's worth a shot.

These do work but it takes weeks to absorb the humidity, where as an electric dehumidifier does what these do in just a few hours.

CaptainKidd

As said before dont have the windows open and the dehumidifiers running as they will just be absorbing the moisture from outside, best bet is too close the door of the rooms that the dehumidifiers are in.

clb776

get environmental health round!

Ours isnt so extreme as mould is growing everywhere, but it is getting that way!! And in most of the rooms the windows have been painted shut haha!

I wouldnt have the windows open and heating on, waste of money.

If you want to get out of the lease you can write asking for them to consider it being ended early due to the problems you are having. I have done this before, and I wrote that I would stay in the property until new tenants were found, my Landlord accepted this.

clutton_2

""I wouldnt have the windows open and heating on, waste of money.
"" - but it is the only way to ventilate and to prevent further condensatoin building up ....

Blackpool_Saver

clutton wrote: »

""I wouldnt have the windows open and heating on, waste of money.
"" - but it is the only way to ventilate and to prevent further condensatoin building up ....

why oh why don't people understand this, no wonder landlords despair and think all tenants are ignorant of these facts