Tenancy property Repainting

Emmanouil

Hello all!!We live in a flat for almost 3 years and we are thinking of leaving soon. We are letting from agency and we are not really happy as they do not seem to care about the property. Our bathroom does not have a window and it has mould on the wall( was not like this when we moved in) and the same happens with our room although we ventilate it every day (room also was in a good condition when we moved in). I have raised concerns through emailing agency to alert them and although they said they would be asking the LL we have not received any response for the last 3 months. My questions are: 1. Is the landlord supposed to maintain the house after some years by doing repainting or redecorating? 2. What is the worst case scenario we would encounter upon moving out? 3. The fact we have reported the mould issue in 2 rooms and no action was taken is an advantage that can be used by us upon moving? Thank you in advance!!

[Deleted User]

Emmanouil said:

Hello all!!We live in a flat for almost 3 years and we are thinking of leaving soon. We are letting from agency and we are not really happy as they do not seem to care about the property. Our bathroom does not have a window and it has mould on the wall( was not like this when we moved in) and the same happens with our room although we ventilate it every day (room also was in a good condition when we moved in). I have raised concerns through emailing agency to alert them and although they said they would be asking the LL we have not received any response for the last 3 months. My questions are: 1. Is the landlord supposed to maintain the house after some years by doing repainting or redecorating? 2. What is the worst case scenario we would encounter upon moving out? 3. The fact we have reported the mould issue in 2 rooms and no action was taken is an advantage that can be used by us upon moving? Thank you in advance!!

Worst case scenario is that the landlord wants to deduct money from your deposit to cover the cost of cleaning and re-decorating due to the mould and that the alternative dispute resolution service offered by the deposit scheme sides with your landlord.

Assuming the property is in England or Wales did you report the mould issue to the address for the serving of notices in your tenancy agreement?

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/damp_and_mould_in_rented_homes

Repairing Obligations: the law, common misconceptions, reporting/enforcing, retaliatory eviction & the new tenant protection (2015) plus the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018

[Deleted User]

Try using cillit bang mould remover, it just dissolves the mould.  Then wipe it off.  Obviously it won't solve whatever caused the mould but it will make the rooms look better.

AdrianC

The bathroom may not have a window, but it should certainly have an extractor fan. Do you use that? For how long after a shower?

You say you ventilate the bedroom - again, how and for how long?

One thing's for sure, a flat is very unlikely to have damp issues for any reason other than simple occupant lifestyle. Repainting doesn't remove or prevent mould. Which floor are you on, out of how many? Does your flat have a direct outside roof to any part?

Emmanouil

The extractor fan is working almost for half an hour after shower and also the door is always open to ventilate the bathroom, the room is being ventilated every day for almost half an hour, the flat is ground floor and the wall who has mould starts from the bathroom and goes through the room is essentially the same wall. Behind the wall are the stairs of the Court we live in and the main entrance door resulting our wall to be always frozen regardless that we open radiators for almost 8h per day. The house is in England.

greatcrested

responsibility for the mould is eiter

1) yours, due to lifestyle or

2) the landlord's, due to structural issues

On the basis of your answer, it sounds like 2) above. The wall is cold due to the hallway and open door the other side, so any water vapour in the air will settle on that wall and condense, causing damp, and mould.

The LL could argue you should have kept that wall dry by wipig it down regularly, but I suspect that claim ould be rejectedby a dispute arbitrator.

Another cause could be the extractor fan.

* is it large enough for the space? If not, that's a LL issue

* is it clean? Or clogged up with dust, dirt etc and therefore not functioning eficiently? That's a tenant issue.

Another ssue, as Loer_of-Lycra says, is whether you reported the mould issue, in writing, tothe landlord, at the address provided, in a timely fashion? ie when you first noticed it. Tenants have a duty to act in a 'tenant-like manner' and that includes informing the LL of issues promptly to avoid them getting worse. Whether the LL acts or not is up to him, but any further damage (eg mould) becomes his problem.

But as deanatrois says, the best way to avoid a dispute is to do what you can to remove the mould/clean the walls, even if that does not resolve the underlying reason for it.