Mould everywhere!!!

Tipsntreats

We have damp and mould in almost every room in our rented flat. Our flat is half a large house, the ground floor is owned by the free holders, who are responsible for the exterior of the property. We had a leaking roof for 5 yrs, until one Christmas, it got so bad that our lounge ceiling partly came down along with our xmas decs. We invited the neighbours from below us to see the damage. They promised to have it fixed ASAP. Nothing was done for nine months, apart from a Mr Bodge up man filling the gaps from inside with expanding foam. Our Landlady did NOTHING! The neighbors below told us that, we would have to wait until the summer was over, as his wife didn't want the work done as it would spoil her sun bathing in her garden!
When the scaffold did go up, it caused a lot of damage to all the render on our flat, below had new render, always looked after. It had been almost 2 years since the roof was done, and the mould just keeps on growing. We have kept complaining to our Landlord, until this March, we were put with an agent. The agent in spite of promising he would sort it immediately, stated that our Landlady would not release funds, and told us to report the issue to Environmental Health. We did that, and several inspections by builders and mould companies came around. Environmental Health took those reports and drew up a time frame with work to be completed by 23rd July. In the meantime I did extensive research on Damp and Mould. There is a some serious advice on the tenants voice site, in the Your Home section, that everyone suffering from mould issues should read. NEVER use bleach, EH are totally untrained, and biochemical treatment can cause death. We contacted the person whose info is on tenants voice, and it looks like a court case for us. Watch this space!

G_M

What is your current concern?

EH have served an enforcement notice on the landlady, with a deadline. If the deadline passes without the work being completed, go back to EH.

Meanwhile, redecoration is pointless until
a) the source of the damp has been removed (eg roof fixed or whatever EH have said needs doing), and
b) the property has dried out (several months)

But I have to ask:

We had a leaking roof for 5 yrs, until one Christmas.....

You have put up with this for 5 years? And not moved out? Or enforced repairs till now?

:doh:

See also:

* Repairing Obligations: the law, common misconceptions, reporting/enforcing, retaliatory eviction & the new protection (2015)

Tipsntreats

We have lived in this flat for 15 yrs. I have a disabled son and this flat has been adapted for him, at our own cost.We have been looking for other accommodation, but not found a suitable place, as I cannot work because of the 24hr care my son needs, we rely on top ups(benefits). Many agents wont rent to us. I did not know about E.H. it was the agent that told us to go down that route. However, they were more concerned about, our old boiler(now replaced), the electrics(needs re-wiring), and putting vents in, that allowed the recent rainfall to come straight inside. The vents will be sorted on Monday. The EH did not find the mould a priority, and in spite of us all, the agent as well, asking for a further inspection, our officer has been missing for over a month. As I stated in my thread, EH are untrained, they know nothing about the dangers of mould. The WHO (World Health Organisation) have been campaigning for the UK to get them trained! I will be trying to find a superior for our EH officer today, as this situation cannot go on.

Money_saving_maniac

Tipsntreats wrote: »

In the meantime I did extensive research on Damp and Mould. There is a some serious advice on the tenants voice site, in the Your Home section, that everyone suffering from mould issues should read. NEVER use bleach, EH are totally untrained, and biochemical treatment can cause death.!

I'm sorry, that's rubbish. Bleach is fine. If you're worried use an oxygen bleach, anyway, no risks of dioxin there. The article you are mentioning is written by a so called 'mould expert' is a guy who sells mould removal services.

Mould can be dangerous of itself, it seems to be more of a direct danger in America, possibly because of greater use of timber framed houses, I don't know.

I used to discount lifestyle factors completely in mould however I was wrong, because my next door neighbour used to complain about a lot of mould in her house. However the next people to move in have never mentioned it once. They live differently, washing is in garden not in house, windows and doors are open frequently etc.

Ensure you are ventilating and heating where necessary, not drying clothes indoors, and don't have stuff piled up against the walls or ceiling, these actions will help as air ventilation helps to remove moisture.

Hopefully the water ingress will be resolved from 23rd july.
EH certainly do know about the risks with mould spores. The bloke trying to sell mould removal says that EH are not funded or trained to take air samples. I don't suppose they are, but they certainly know enough to be able to rate the mould risk in a property visually.

I don't really know what you are complaining about, you've lived with it 5 years without doing anything, you've made them aware and they've put instruction to the landlord with a dateline, stop working yourself up right now would be my advice.