How to rent without being ripped off

Tobster86

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Penetrating damp is not the cause of mould, in fact that is not the most likely to lead to mould as salts being drawn through the plaster inhibit mould growth. The issue could be an internal leak, condensation caused by your lifestyle and poor ventilation or rising damp (but see salts comment).

What action have you taken? Have you altered your lifestyle and are you using an electric dehumidifier? Have you written to the landlord about the mould and your health issues, has he had any investigations done? Have you contacted Environmental Health at the local council? If you don't you are leaving this for another tenant to suffer.
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/disrepair_in_rented_accommodation/what_is_disrepair

Our lifestyle is no different to the previous two mould-free houses we've lived in. We tumble dry clothes in an outbuilding. We don't use a dehumidifier and never have. The bathroom is poorly ventilated and suffers a bit when we use the shower, that's the only commentable thing really.

In summer we have all windows cracked open which reduces but doesn't eliminate the problem. The worst affected room is an upstairs office where mould grows, particularly behind furniture, up a south facing wall. The wall has been painted; possibly suggesting that someone has known about the problem for a while.

The house is a bog-standard 2 bedroom + box room semi detached. Next door neighbour has no problems. Admittedly the land is generally quite damp, only a few miles from the Severn.

Fire_Fox

Tobster86 wrote: »

Our lifestyle is no different to the previous two mould-free houses we've lived in. We tumble dry clothes in an outbuilding. We don't use a dehumidifier and never have. The bathroom is poorly ventilated and suffers a bit when we use the shower, that's the only commentable thing really.

In summer we have all windows cracked open which reduces but doesn't eliminate the problem. The worst affected room is an upstairs office where mould grows, particularly behind furniture, up a south facing wall. The wall has been painted; possibly suggesting that someone has known about the problem for a while.

The house is a bog-standard 2 bedroom + box room semi detached. Next door neighbour has no problems. Admittedly the land is generally quite damp, only a few miles from the Severn.

Different houses have different levels of natural or planned ventilation, modern ones are often well sealed whereas older ones have chimneys or floorboards and air bricks or drafty windows for example. Water in the air tends to settle on colder walls or in colder rooms as well as the obvious of damper rooms. Different households create more or less water: number of people breathing, longer or shorter more or less frequent showering, open windows more or less, use the doors more or less often (dogs, kids) and so on. Point being it's not as simple as comparing to neighbours, previous tenants or previous houses you have lived in.

Not saying this mould is your fault, but it is not safe to assume it is not and will not cause you problems with the damage deposit if you have not formally reported it (= behaving in a tenant like manner). You need to ventilate daily year round, the average household creates many pints of water each day. Opening the windows a crack does not create good air circulation, so open them properly or use a dehumidifier. Mould behind furniture indicates poor air flow as well as dampness.

If you have written to the landlord, have you contacted Environmental Health at the local council?

whalster

All good advice here but also you need to check on the landlord groups on Facebook as my wife keeps telling me the majority of people renting from us now are the facebook generation and social media plays a large part in our business now ,what you will find though is that for every landlord advert there are maybe 4 people posting wanting a property this I am sure will change with regulation of the letting agents however at the moment it is just how it is .
Well back to it my ober gruppen fuhrer ( wifey come semi boss ) is calling
Property man its a while since I have been on here been sulking for pulling me up on my spelling ,whatever you do don't pull me up on it in German ! it may just push me over the edge !!!!