Various problems

WiseDavid0562

Afternoon,

My girlfriend and I moved into a privately rented mid terraced farm cottage in the summer last year, Which we believe was lying empty for a while before we moved. Now that winter is here we have started to notice a few problems. Whenever we heat the house (Using a multi fuel burner) it doesn't stay warm for very long and is freezing in the morning. There's mould growing in various areas and possibly rising in damp in the hallway. The wind whistles through the windows in one of the bedrooms and some have mould in the white sealant. We have cleaned the mould off with anti mould spray on numerous occasions but it returns. I could also replace the sealant myself. I intend mentioning it to the landlord and see what he says. Before I do, I just wanted to canvass opinion on the issue regarding heating and insulation, particularly around any legal rights I may have etc.

Thanks

Cakeguts

How old is the house? The fact that it doesn't stay warm suggests that it isn't very well insulated. Old houses aren't. They are often damp as well.

Do you dry your washing in front of the burner or on radiators? Do you open the window in the kitchen or use and extractor fan to remove steam when cooking? Is there an extractor fan in the bathroom or do you open a window after a shower or bath? Damp is often caused by lack of ventilation of moist air. So if you introduce moist air into a house creating steam or drying wet washing that air moisture has to go somewhere.

The really good thing about renting is that you can move easily. So if you find that your lifestyle doesn't suit the type of property that you have rented you can move to something more suitable.

MyOnlyPost

You should have been given an EPC before you moved in which would have detailed things such as level of insulation and expected heating costs. As CG says older houses (by your description it sounds like this could be) are notoriously hard to insulate and keep warm.

The_Logans

I'm afraid that sounds like an old house, and normal old house problems. You must try to ventilate it as much as possible to alleviate the damp/mould. We live in a house built in 1850 and are used to these sorts of things. By all means you should mention your concerns to your landlord, but I think you also need to manage your expectations of what he/she can achieve in an old property. As a previous poster said, if it is too much of an issue then maybe you need to find a newer property to rent.

WiseDavid0562

Thanks for the replies, The house is about 35 years old. We have extractor fans in the bathroom and kitchen plus a hood over the cooker. We dry clothes next to the burner. The windows get open as much as possible for ventilation. I didn't get an EPC so I will enquire about this when I speak to the landlord.

The_Logans

WiseDavid0562 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, The house is about 35 years old. We have extractor fans in the bathroom and kitchen plus a hood over the cooker. We dry clothes next to the burner. The windows get open as much as possible for ventilation. I didn't get an EPC so I will enquire about this when I speak to the landlord.

Crikey, I wouldn't be expecting problems like that in a house just 35 years old. The way you were describing it I was thinking it was at least 100!

WiseDavid0562

I made a mistake it is actually 90 years old, I got the age by checking when the post code was first registered to that address. Sorry

Doozergirl

Like I said on the other thread. People will blame tenants. Even tenants blame tenants!

If you cannot live normally in a house without condensation then the fabric is a problem. One can reduce problems by adapting lifestyle, but if someone can live in one house without a problem but have problems in another, then the fabric isn't up to expectations.

Doozergirl

I'm amazed that you don't seem to have central heating in the 21st century and are relying on a burner?

Admittedly, we're engineering new houses with renewable energy and "no heating needed" options, but a 90 year old house?