Mould in Rented Flat Causes Furniture Damage- Compensation?

GwylimT

Well for starters with a child they cannot remain in that house.

Poor ventilation is normally a lack of air bricks etc, however if windows are left open on the crack it isn't an issue, so lack of air bricks doesn't really matter unless they are keeping the windows closed.

Is the damp damaged furniture limited to a certain area, e.g. living room? If not it is likely a inside temperature issue alongside the fact that they are drying clothes in their flat. A good way of also seeing if this is the reason is to see if surfaces are damp, e.g. outer walls with droplets on or damp feeling bedding/soft furnishings.

If it was rising damp the flooring would be damp and moldy if carpeted, it would likely smell, although new visitors might notice the smell as tenants and regular visitors have likely become accustomed to it. If damp is coming through certain areas of the wall there should be damp marks, whether that be brown marks, bubbling paint or brown stained wall paper.

My wife has a house that she rents out and tenants are not to air clothes in the house because the windows are the main source of ventilation, and her last two set of tenants didn't open windows and use heating while drying clothes and so had a 'damp' problem. There are some air bricks in her house, but said tenants decided to tape over them, but then one of them also taped over the vent in the room with a back boiler!

moromir

Alarae wrote:

Your post is extremely helpful, thank you! The issue may have been amplified via drying clothes indoors but it is not the main cause; that is down to poor ventilation in the house and has been identified by a builder/surveyor. However my sister had no choice but to dry clothes indoors as there is no tumbledryer in the flat.

Please know that I mean well and that I'm not having a go but there are plenty of reasonable steps she can take to alleviate the situation;

1. Unless the property has no windows, the poor ventilation is down to your sister. Most windows have a way to lock them open on the latch, leave them like this all the time if possible.

Yes she will have to put the heating on to compensate. There may be trickle vents in the window frames, leave them set to open for low background ventilation.

2. Stop drying clothes in the property. Your sister DOES have a choice whether she dries clothes in the flat. She chooses to dry clothes in the flat rather than bother to go to the laundrette, plain and simple.

It is NOT common for flats to be equipped with a tumble dryer and the landlord is perfectly reasonable to ask her to abstain from drying clothes in the flat.

You appear to have misunderstood the Surveyor's comments. To say a property has poor ventilation does NOT mean the property is defective or that this is somehow the landlord's fault.

It literally means the occupier needs to ensure they ventilate properly, and as I said above, unless theres no windows in the flat, the tenant has all the ventilation equipment they need.

sandsni

It's not just drying clothes indoors that causes extra moisture in the air, it's bathing/showering/cooking. Even breathing produces a few litres per day. The water vapour, unless vented outside the property, will naturally condense on cold surfaces.

I dry clothes indoors when the weather is bad, but I always ventilate and always make sure the house is heated, even in summer, to reduce the likelihood of water vapour condensing on the surfaces. I have no problems with condensation or mould. If your sister wishes to continue drying clothes in the flat, she could turn up the heating which will allow more of the water to be held as vapour in the air rather than condensing on the surfaces. Or invest in a dehumidifier.

Since your sister now has a tumble dryer, she needs to make sure the steam is being vented outside the flat, not just back into the room.

I don't really understand why your sister stayed after the agent advised her to move when the problem was first identified in April. Wouldn't that have given her some indication of the likelihood of things being resolved to her satisfaction?

angelsmomma

Alarae wrote: »

Windows are open throughout the day, and the heating is on all the time as there is a young child in the house (the large electric bill is testament to that!).

Probably my lack of knowledge on the matter, but surely it would be reasonable for them to dry clothes in the house with windows open/heaters on considering they have no tumble dryer?

No it is not reasonable to dry clothes in the house just because they have no tumble drier. It puts moisture into the air.

I have rental property and one of my tenants did this. It caused terrible problems with black mould. I told her it was her causing it as I knew there were no problems with damp as I lived there for 3 years before she moved in and there was none at all. She now ventilates and has a tumble drier which is vented to outside and in the last 18 months has not has a problem.

The house I moved into however is another matter. If I don't have all the windows open a crack all day as soon as I get up to going to bed I get mould starting. There is no other ventilation just the windows. It is a nuisance but it is the only thing that works.

I also have to open the bathroom window wide after showering and cook with the back door open or the tiled kitchen floor becomes very wet and the windows steam up despite having a cooker hood on.

Alarae

Thank you for your insight everyone, it has been very useful!

I should probably clarify that it was the surveyor that said it was down to structural issues which caused lack of ventilation I believe. I don't think there was any windows to open in the bathroom or kitchen which caused the mould issues in those areas. There are a couple of sets of large patio doors in the living room and master bedroom but it is difficult to have them open at times if there is only one person in the house and they are cooking/in shower etc.

I'm going to relay your messages onto her and basically just tell her to cut it quick and move, since I think the flat is just quite impractical to live in with their situation.

Many thanks everyone

ognum

Why don't they move? If the flat is so bad I would be looking for somewhere else to live!

Claire212

This is exactly the same situation that we are in.


High Humidity in the building. (Condensation) Damp conditions causing mould etc. Our condensation at one point got so bad that the walls are covered in moisture if we use the cooker or run a bath!


The buildings inspector said exactly the same thing. Lack of ventilation. We have since had ventilation bricks put in every room in the house. Special anti mould ones that provide air but no draught. And extraction fans fitted in the kitchen and bathroom.


The condensation we have is a direct result of having no insulation in the walls. We have a 9 inch solid brick wall. Unfortunately it is only solved by adding insulation, or stopping the water getting into the property and this is not a requirement for LL. Although you can ask. There is a type of silicon for bricks that is often used to stop water getting into the bricks allowing the property to dry out. But it would depend on what structural issues the surveyor meant. the cause for us was that the air vents to the property were all bricked up or moved to accommodate the kitchen or decoration.


I would say it would be advisable for the LL to install extraction fans in the high humidity areas. They sense moisture and turn on when needed.


We have had to invest in an industrial dehumidifier which has helped enormously. You could ask the LL to provide one, or they can rent one.


This problem unfortunately, does not go away overnight. It can take months for the property to 'dry out'. Is this is a risk your sister wishes to take for her.her baby's health?


Yes Environmental health may help to get measures put in place. But unless the damp and mould is caused by structural problems they may not be able to help. But it can't hurt.

diamond_dave

As a private landlord, I have a very similar situation with the tenants in my gf flat. The couple had 1 child when they first moved in several years ago and have added to the family since then now there are 5 people in all. I have recently had to visit in order to carry out some repairs - and I was horrified at the smell and squalor in the flat. The windows walls carpets were BLACK! I have constantly warned them to open the windows and let the wind blow out the condensation, but they seem unable to comprehend what I am saying. The 3 children live in 1 bedroom and the window has never been opened.You can imagine the smell and mess. Although they have a lovely garden(which they don't look after) where they can dry the clothes on a fine day, they don't use it; preferring to use a tumble drier which vents into the kitchen or dry the clothes on the radiators. I have very little sympathy for these tenants as I have bent over backwards in order to help them and they still wont respond to my goodwill. Anyway, today they have phoned to say that they are moving to another house - giving me about 2 weeks notice!! Might be some discussion over the deposit, I think.

Pixie5740

anselld wrote: »

Sounds largely self inflicted.
Drying clothes indoors - many tenancy agreements forbid it for exactly this reason.

This query is off topic but out of curiousity where are tenants supposed to dry their clothes? I live in Scotland, it rains a lot so I can't always dry my clothes outside, it's a fully furnished flat with no tumble dryer and no space for one if I were to purchsed it myself, so I dry my clothes inside. I've never had a problem with mould (except for one student flat many moons ago but that was due to a burst pipe in the flat upstrairs) but then again I like to open windows and get the air circulating.

jrawle

Regarding there not being space for a tumble drier in various people's properties above. It is possible to get a combined washer-drier. I know some people say they are not as good as an externally vented drier, but I have one and I find it fine. They include a condenser, and the water is then pumped down the same drain as the washing water. They don't have such a large capacity as a stand-alone drier, but many clothes are "do not tumble dry" anyway (which itself is a reason clothes sometimes need to be dried indoors).

I wondered, are the properties where people have mould problems double glazed? I find single glazing acts as a good dehumidifier. If your windows don't steam up, it's likely the walls do instead, and unlike glass they go mouldy. Double glazing isn't all it's cracked up to be!