Landlords could be forced to ensure renters don’t live in damp and mould

14 comments

1. Not could be forced, it needs to be forced by law.

2. I’m sure landlords will happily comply with this and not put rents through the roof

3. Private[ landlords could be forced to improve living conditions](https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/lips-swelling-rushed-hospital-mould-crisis-student-housing-3577727?ico=in-line_link) for as many as 9.2 million private [renters ](https://inews.co.uk/topic/renters?ico=in-line_link)living in 4 million homes across England and Wales as the Government seeks to raise housing requirements.

   The Decent Homes Standard (DHS) – the Government-defined [benchmark for the quality of social housing](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/landlords-angela-rayner-rent-controls-3487354?ico=in-line_link) – requires homes to be in a reasonable state of repair, have reasonably modern facilities and not be subject to hazards like damp and [mould](https://inews.co.uk/news/health/black-mould-dangerous-health-3529377?srsltid=AfmBOooPS6zsQ6RXUoXBZWzQhVp50jcrhrKfT6V9Z4oiy7o5Jk3zvxQc&ico=in-line_link).

   But, at present, the minimum technical standard does not apply to private renters.

   Angela Rayner’s Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government wants to change this to bring in a mandate for private [landlords ](https://inews.co.uk/topic/landlords?ico=in-line_link)to comply to the DHS as well.

   The threshold for [social housing](https://inews.co.uk/topic/social-housing?ico=in-line_link) was first introduced in 2000 but has barely been updated since and has never applied to private renting, despite there being more people living in privately rented homes than in social housing.

   Awaab’s Law, which will build upon the existing DHS when it comes into force later this year, will also only apply to social housing. The new standards will require social landlords to address damp and mould hazards within specific timeframes and is named after two-year-old [Awaab Ishak](https://inews.co.uk/news/in-memory-of-awaab-ishak-the-young-boy-killed-by-bad-housing-1987966?srsltid=AfmBOorslk_JvmBPxQkfLdfpI6YimqD9r4-vbXknsre5k-Emnz7D35Gz&ico=in-line_link) who died in Rochdale in 2020 following exposure to mould.

   It’s thought that [almost half of private renters ](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/almost-half-of-private-renters-live-in-homes-with-cold-damp-or-%20mould/#:~:text=New%20research%20from%20Citizens%20Advice,issues%20for%20over%20a%20year.)are currently living in homes that are cold, damp and mouldy at great risk to their health.

4. Councils should be held by same standard. My parent house has it and they said when it was reported to the council that they was told other homes in area are more priority.

   When my dad has heart and breathing issues, how thoughtful they are.

5. I went through this two years ago when I moved into a house in north London. We managed to get him to do a damp survey which revealed pretty much the entire ground floor walls were sodden. We pushed for them to resolve this, the bill for which was thousands of pounds.

   The landlord simply said “I’m not paying that” and that was the last of it. We sought help from the council and even considered taking him to a small claims court for breach of our rental contract but realised it’d probably be a waste of time.

   It is staggering how little you can do as a renter to actually enforce the terms of your contract.

6. Waiting for the landlords to complain how mould prevention is a threat to this countries economy

7. Bloody common sense.
   Larger landlords claim management of property is a full time and real occupation. The rent is collected in full but the management is often shirked.

8. So landlords need to be forced by the law to have some common decency. No surprises there.

9. “hey, Pay me x Amount every month, on this date, and if you miss one single payment, I will add interest, make chargers and give warnings….”

   “hey mr landlord, the place im paying you x amount of rent for on this date is now letting water into your house and ruining your stuff”

   and then you never hear from that landlord again…

   usually how it goes.

10. Not exactly a big ask..

11. I’m not a big landlord fan. I’m sure there is many decent ones. But this goes deeper than say lack of maintenance. If a tenant insists on drying their freshly washed towels or bed linen on indoor radiators with windows. Or in the constant drive for heat efficiency all vents are sealed and no air can circulate in a dwelling. What’s to be done

12. In before some boomer gets in here and tells you to run the heating and open the windows and how WOKE kids can’t even wear a jumper inside and BACK IN MY DAY we used to just be cold with the heating on and the windows open (dont worry about how much electricity and gas used to cost)

13. good. It’s bad enough rent prices take half your income but when the houses aren’t even maintained to a living standard is infuriating. They’ll happily take your £700 a month for a one bed flat though.

14. They already are forced to do this. The problem appears to be in enforcement of this when it’s not dealt with.

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