Mould in rental house

macman

Cold air holds less water vapour in suspension, so mould is likely to develop on cold walls and in colder rooms. The moisture coming off drying clothes, and from cooking and just breathing will travel freely into any cooler areas.

chilli_green

Thanks very much for all the quick and varied replies. It does seem to be a complicated issue. I appreciate all the causes of mould may come down to the usual suspects of drying clothes and ventialtion, but we've done just about everything we can. I tried running the heating constantly at a low temperature to maintain a status quo in the property and it turned out far too expensive.

I think my main question is if the landlord is within their rights to just totally do nothing regardless of how bad it might get - I have friends who've said they managed to get money back after complaining, potentially with some sort of health inspector involved. I've never lived in anywhere with mould like this in all the many properties I've rented and it's just quite unpleasant and disheartening to have both ruined clothing, and potential health issues.

Our specific house is pretty badly insulated - the wind rattles through if it's blowing and the radiators can be quite ineffective unless you're right next to them. The mould grows on both internal and external walls, high, low, near radiators and far away. Plus there's a noticeable damp patch growing where the corridor through the house is at a lower level to the bedroom - presumably the space under the bedroom is filled with soil or hardcore.

Pixie5740

If it does come down to lifestyle then your landlord isn't responsible. When you say "we've done just about all we can," can you be more specific please?

HappyMJ

chilli_green wrote: »

Thanks very much for all the quick and varied replies. It does seem to be a complicated issue. I appreciate all the causes of mould may come down to the usual suspects of drying clothes and ventialtion, but we've done just about everything we can. I tried running the heating constantly at a low temperature to maintain a status quo in the property and it turned out far too expensive.

I think my main question is if the landlord is within their rights to just totally do nothing regardless of how bad it might get - I have friends who've said they managed to get money back after complaining, potentially with some sort of health inspector involved. I've never lived in anywhere with mould like this in all the many properties I've rented and it's just quite unpleasant and disheartening to have both ruined clothing, and potential health issues.

Our specific house is pretty badly insulated - the wind rattles through if it's blowing and the radiators can be quite ineffective unless you're right next to them. The mould grows on both internal and external walls, high, low, near radiators and far away. Plus there's a noticeable damp patch growing where the corridor through the house is at a lower level to the bedroom - presumably the space under the bedroom is filled with soil or hardcore.

Sounds like a very bad property. Have you considered moving out?

Davesnave

chilli_green wrote: »

Our specific house is pretty badly insulated - the wind rattles through if it's blowing and the radiators can be quite ineffective unless you're right next to them. The mould grows on both internal and external walls, high, low, near radiators and far away. Plus there's a noticeable damp patch growing where the corridor through the house is at a lower level to the bedroom - presumably the space under the bedroom is filled with soil or hardcore.

Surely, when you consider the odds against the landlord sorting all that, plus the disruption it would cause if he did, the answer as to what you should do becomes painfully obvious.

pmlindyloo

Have you read the Shelter link provided in post 6?

This gives a clear and precise guide as what you can do 'officially'.

Unfortunately, unless your tenancy began or was renewed after 1 October 2015, there is no protection for you if the landlord decides to evict you but it seems likely that you are on a one year fixed term tenancy agreement so you would have time to find somewhere else if this happened.

Only you can decide if it is worth following Shelter's guide and taking this further.

So your options are:

1. Follow Shelter's guide but be aware the LL could start eviction proceedings
2. Look for somewhere else to live
3. Ask LL for an early surrender because of the problems
4. Put up with it if you wish to remain in the house because of location etc

MrJB

I presume you've looked for obvious signs of water penetration from the outside? Ie overflowing gutters/objects breaching the dpm etc. I presume the areas that the mould is appearing are just generally pretty cold - Ie by window frames etc.