Horrible. A failure at every level. The council even say on their website “We have a legal obligation to protect tenants from inappropriate and illegal behaviour by landlords” but never do anything about it.
These days it feels like the list of British residential properties not afflicted by some form of mould is shorter than the list of ones that are. I’m assuming it comes down to a catastrophic loosening of building standards by certain people who know the cost of everything and value of nothing?
UK has chronic problems with housing quality. Mould is typical in houses and even newer buildings are horribly designed that mould in bathrooms, windows areas are very likely to appear. Add to this lack of basic physics knowledge that room should be ventilated and then you have mould all around the house.
What’s causing this?
* Poor insulation – or no insulation at all.
* Modifying existing buildings which were not built according to housing standards – this is a plague recently. Old offices are converted into modern-looking and quite pricey apartments which have terrible EPC rating and are nightmare to maintain(huge cost usually credited to heating bills). In summer it’s unbearably hot and in winter you have problems with condensation and it’s basically freezing there.
* Terrible quality of windows – I do not mention here single-glazed windows because these are joke and I am surprised that people have not changed them but even newer houses have problems with that. Contractors and designers try to mitigate mould problem by installing windows with vents but these are usually incorrectly designed so you have basically gaping hole in your window without any insulation that results in rising/lowering temperature in your room depending on current season.
* Other european countries like Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia have overcome the problems with constant condensation and mould. Perhaps it would be good to update building regulations to finally get rid of this ghastly problem. People do not seem to understand how dangerous this is.
* I lived in mutiple types of apartments and this is my conclusion
* Avoid converted offices especially with electric heating
* Avoid older buildings
* When buying/renting house always ask for current EPC. Rent/buy house which is at least on C level. B is really good. A is perfect.
* Choose house with mechanical ventilation installed – new flats should have air handling unit installed.
* Ventilate your flat as much as you can if you do not have air handling unit
* Always keep doors of your bathroom open after you took a shower/bath
* Maintain correct temperature in your flat during winter
* In case you live in old building, still got problem with condensation use dehumidifier
* Remove mould if you notice it in your house – usually around windows or in bathroom on silicone. There are products on market which are very reliable in this – something like HG Mould Spray.
[deleted]
This is only going to get worse as people reduce heating their homes due to the cost of energy.
The law needs to be changed. The landlord has ignored the tenant that caused the death of a young boy.
Terrible behaviour at every level, including the parents to be fair. How could you live with that amount of mould in your flat, not to mention it being around your kid?
I know cleaning it is only temporary, but it still gets rid of it for the time being. I’ve had to live in a mouldy rented flat before and we proper blitzed it.
I used to be a landlord and the problem with mold in that house was that I couldn’t get a straight answer from contractors- each one wanting to sell a different product. On top of that the tenants blocking the ventilation , not opening windows or not putting the extractor fans on, because they didn’t want to pay the extra associated energy bills.
Last private rental I was in had a leaking skylight. Told them weekly for about 6 months. Caused problems with mould and rotted the frame. Then they had the brass neck to complain they had to replace the entire thing and it cost them money. If they had delt with it in the first place that wouldn’t have happened. Pretty sure they hired a cowboy to fix it as well cos it was fucked again 2 months later without ever opening it.
Told them about a broken extractor fan in the bathroom. Then they complained I kept using the shower knowing it was broken when they didn’t fix it for months.
Then tried to claim deposit back from the scheme because of damage they said they were going to fix from when I moved in 2 years previous that they never did.
Time stamped photos man take em the second you get the keys. Time stamp every issue you have. Get a paper trail going.
Lets play Landlord Mould Bingo!
“Stop drying your washing indoors!” (Bonus point if there’s no tumble dryer and/or any means to hang washing outside)
“Buy a dehumidifier/tumble dryer/those useless “dehumidifier” box things you put on your windowsill” (note: The first two purchases one will only be recommended if the tenant is paying the electricity bills)
“Just open the windows!” (Regardless of time of year)
And of course hundreds of pounds taken off the deposit when you move for missing a bit of the mould discolouration when desperately trying to clean it off the walls. Don’t worry though, with the £300 they’ve pocketed of your money it’ll be put to good use. A 15 quid tin of B&Qs cheapest paint should, ahem- “fix” the issue…
And now the next tenant can play the next round of Mould Bingo for themselves.
Every house I’ve been in has had bad mould problems and landlords want nothing to do with it. It seems the same with a lot of social housing too.
So much of it is structural and would cost them time and money so they pass the buck.
Tell you to keep the heating on and windows open. Makes my blood boil.
Makes it so much worse than many politicians are landlords and are letting their energy buddies bathe in cash. It’s a scam.
I had an issue with mould as a student- very old property, single glazing, landlord wanted nothing to do with it- just painted over the huge amount of mould. Made me quite poorly- had asthma and it really triggered it. Took a good 2-3 years after moving out for my asthma to settle down again- really lucky my parents didn’t have to rent etc. when I was growing up so avoided this.
Was anyone not shocked by the pics of the mould? I mean did they just leave it like that without cleaning/spray mould spray?
I have those plastic, disposable interior dehumidifiers placed at each end of every window sill in my house, I’ve also been wiping condensation off the windows as I see it. I’ve even painted my bathroom with a mould proof paint but I still get some mould. I clean it off as I find it. As people can’t currently afford to heat their homes this problem will get far worse. Too many rental properties are very old and have drafty windows. Tenants get blamed for damp even if it’s not their fault. I would recommend NOT drying laundry indoors as it makes damp much worse. It’s not easy right now if you don’t have a tumble dryer as most properties don’t have room for one. The fact that this housing assn knew about the problem but did nothing is heartbreaking.
We’re looking more and more like soviet era eastern Europe every day. Thanks Tory voters!
Obviously every house is different. Here’s what I do:
first mold is cleaned with bleach and open windows. Thick bleach works best, let it on for until it disappears. Works every time
Second, air out the house frequently, first thing in the morning, after a shower, after cooking.
This makes a huge difference. If you’re drying clothes inside leave the window open and/or get a dehumidifier, you can get chemicals ones for cheap or buy a proper one. Both work.
Third, some plants works well to keep things in check. I use snake plants to get fresh air.
We live in 2022 and we still haven’t got a hold of this issue. It’s not just social housing, council housing etc. we see it with new buildings too, surely it shouldn’t be an issue in this day and age.
How dumb do you have to be to let your child stay in a mouldy room?
Would you stay in that room? No, so why force a child to do so.
This is child neglect being covered up as the housing association’s fault.
Should the association repair it if it was caused by water egress or a burst pipe? Yes.
Should they have to do anything if the tenant is stupid and does not air the house out and keep things dry inside? No
I lived next door to a tenant for a few years who never opened the windows and would dry clothing inside. The amount of mould in there covered the walls and ceiling. She kept a 3-5 year old in that house also.
Cared more about getting high and her mobile than the child.
Saw it happen down the road as well.
this is bad, but Co pounded by the families inability to speak English.
I would suggest, if anyone wants to come here, learning the language is an absolute must, or they risk being if ored like these poor people.
I’m watching the downvotes fluctuate on this post. I’m just curious, why would you not want this to receive media attention? He had fungus in his lungs and blood.
My sister was put in a very similar condition of housing, thankfully it was temporary (2 years). Their response was to paint over it. The windows were awful and were the same windows from 1982, replacing them would have helped. This is a place for emergency/temporary accommodation so no one is even within their rights to treat the mould properly! Her son now has severe asthma, which I would tie to those two years as he was only 18 months when they first moved in there.
Parents should be persecuted for negligence. How can you let your child sleeping in this house? Criminal…
Good thing that local NIMBY’s stopped construction of new, higher quality, new-builds in their area
Once again, almost all UK problems are down to the Town and County Planning Act, reducing construction of new homes, leaving us with old shit that kills children
Feel so sorry for the family of that poor boy.
I’m having my own issues with damp in a rental (not nearly as bad as that family of course) and there seems to be people on this thread who know what they are talking about when it comes to damp/mould so I wonder if advice could be shared….
I moved into this property in May and there were no obvious signs of damp at the time, however LL had redecorated when I looked around so more than likely covered it.
The kitchen and bedrooms are the worst rooms as there are some quite big damp splodges on external facing walls. Quite sizable above the bed. There is a little patch beneath the skirting board in the living room but in general that room is a bit more manageable.
The house can get particularly cold (not even on particularly cold days) and it sometimes feels colder indoors than outdoors and suspect it’s poorly insulated as you can sometimes see your own breath. It was built in 1901.
We do the normal things like hang washing outside where possible (although it’s South Manchester so clear days are few and far between) and ventilate as much as possible. There are trickle vents I’m keeping open in bedroom / kitchen / bathroom. Too cold though to open them on everywhere in house though. We have heating on a low heat when it is particularly cold but running it constantly as some suggest is v expensive and also it’s not particularly energy efficient when we’re not at home.
Anyway damp patches are slowly getting bigger as it gets colder but there is no mould that I can see at all. We had an issue in our old property where you literally couldn’t open some windows (as they were falling apart) and there was a lot of black mould behind furniture in particular. In this house it all seems to be on exposed bits of external facing wall.
Wondered people’s opinion of the likelyhood of water getting in from the outside? Haven’t consulted the LL about this yet as I feel like he will say usual thing (turn heating on and open windows) as he’s a bit of a cheapskate, so don’t expect him to do anything unless it’s something simple like replacing a tap (which he still grumbles about).
Any advice on how to tackle this is welcome!
Landlord belongs in jail.
If you can’t afford to make a rental property habitable then you can’t afford to be in the rental business.
The child was having extreme respiratory symptoms, the landlord knew, and he did nothing.
25 comments
Horrible. A failure at every level. The council even say on their website “We have a legal obligation to protect tenants from inappropriate and illegal behaviour by landlords” but never do anything about it.
These days it feels like the list of British residential properties not afflicted by some form of mould is shorter than the list of ones that are. I’m assuming it comes down to a catastrophic loosening of building standards by certain people who know the cost of everything and value of nothing?
UK has chronic problems with housing quality. Mould is typical in houses and even newer buildings are horribly designed that mould in bathrooms, windows areas are very likely to appear. Add to this lack of basic physics knowledge that room should be ventilated and then you have mould all around the house.
What’s causing this?
* Poor insulation – or no insulation at all.
* Modifying existing buildings which were not built according to housing standards – this is a plague recently. Old offices are converted into modern-looking and quite pricey apartments which have terrible EPC rating and are nightmare to maintain(huge cost usually credited to heating bills). In summer it’s unbearably hot and in winter you have problems with condensation and it’s basically freezing there.
* Terrible quality of windows – I do not mention here single-glazed windows because these are joke and I am surprised that people have not changed them but even newer houses have problems with that. Contractors and designers try to mitigate mould problem by installing windows with vents but these are usually incorrectly designed so you have basically gaping hole in your window without any insulation that results in rising/lowering temperature in your room depending on current season.
* Other european countries like Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia have overcome the problems with constant condensation and mould. Perhaps it would be good to update building regulations to finally get rid of this ghastly problem. People do not seem to understand how dangerous this is.
* I lived in mutiple types of apartments and this is my conclusion
* Avoid converted offices especially with electric heating
* Avoid older buildings
* When buying/renting house always ask for current EPC. Rent/buy house which is at least on C level. B is really good. A is perfect.
* Choose house with mechanical ventilation installed – new flats should have air handling unit installed.
* Ventilate your flat as much as you can if you do not have air handling unit
* Always keep doors of your bathroom open after you took a shower/bath
* Maintain correct temperature in your flat during winter
* In case you live in old building, still got problem with condensation use dehumidifier
* Remove mould if you notice it in your house – usually around windows or in bathroom on silicone. There are products on market which are very reliable in this – something like HG Mould Spray.
[deleted]
This is only going to get worse as people reduce heating their homes due to the cost of energy.
The law needs to be changed. The landlord has ignored the tenant that caused the death of a young boy.
Terrible behaviour at every level, including the parents to be fair. How could you live with that amount of mould in your flat, not to mention it being around your kid?
I know cleaning it is only temporary, but it still gets rid of it for the time being. I’ve had to live in a mouldy rented flat before and we proper blitzed it.
I used to be a landlord and the problem with mold in that house was that I couldn’t get a straight answer from contractors- each one wanting to sell a different product. On top of that the tenants blocking the ventilation , not opening windows or not putting the extractor fans on, because they didn’t want to pay the extra associated energy bills.
Last private rental I was in had a leaking skylight. Told them weekly for about 6 months. Caused problems with mould and rotted the frame. Then they had the brass neck to complain they had to replace the entire thing and it cost them money. If they had delt with it in the first place that wouldn’t have happened. Pretty sure they hired a cowboy to fix it as well cos it was fucked again 2 months later without ever opening it.
Told them about a broken extractor fan in the bathroom. Then they complained I kept using the shower knowing it was broken when they didn’t fix it for months.
Then tried to claim deposit back from the scheme because of damage they said they were going to fix from when I moved in 2 years previous that they never did.
Time stamped photos man take em the second you get the keys. Time stamp every issue you have. Get a paper trail going.
Lets play Landlord Mould Bingo!
“Stop drying your washing indoors!” (Bonus point if there’s no tumble dryer and/or any means to hang washing outside)
“Buy a dehumidifier/tumble dryer/those useless “dehumidifier” box things you put on your windowsill” (note: The first two purchases one will only be recommended if the tenant is paying the electricity bills)
“Just open the windows!” (Regardless of time of year)
And of course hundreds of pounds taken off the deposit when you move for missing a bit of the mould discolouration when desperately trying to clean it off the walls. Don’t worry though, with the £300 they’ve pocketed of your money it’ll be put to good use. A 15 quid tin of B&Qs cheapest paint should, ahem- “fix” the issue…
And now the next tenant can play the next round of Mould Bingo for themselves.
Every house I’ve been in has had bad mould problems and landlords want nothing to do with it. It seems the same with a lot of social housing too.
So much of it is structural and would cost them time and money so they pass the buck.
Tell you to keep the heating on and windows open. Makes my blood boil.
Makes it so much worse than many politicians are landlords and are letting their energy buddies bathe in cash. It’s a scam.
I had an issue with mould as a student- very old property, single glazing, landlord wanted nothing to do with it- just painted over the huge amount of mould. Made me quite poorly- had asthma and it really triggered it. Took a good 2-3 years after moving out for my asthma to settle down again- really lucky my parents didn’t have to rent etc. when I was growing up so avoided this.
[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-vote-down-law-requiring-landlords-make-their-homes-fit-for-human-habitation-a6809691.html](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-vote-down-law-requiring-landlords-make-their-homes-fit-for-human-habitation-a6809691.html) The only thing that needs to be said on the matter
Was anyone not shocked by the pics of the mould? I mean did they just leave it like that without cleaning/spray mould spray?
I have those plastic, disposable interior dehumidifiers placed at each end of every window sill in my house, I’ve also been wiping condensation off the windows as I see it. I’ve even painted my bathroom with a mould proof paint but I still get some mould. I clean it off as I find it. As people can’t currently afford to heat their homes this problem will get far worse. Too many rental properties are very old and have drafty windows. Tenants get blamed for damp even if it’s not their fault. I would recommend NOT drying laundry indoors as it makes damp much worse. It’s not easy right now if you don’t have a tumble dryer as most properties don’t have room for one. The fact that this housing assn knew about the problem but did nothing is heartbreaking.
We’re looking more and more like soviet era eastern Europe every day. Thanks Tory voters!
Obviously every house is different. Here’s what I do:
first mold is cleaned with bleach and open windows. Thick bleach works best, let it on for until it disappears. Works every time
Second, air out the house frequently, first thing in the morning, after a shower, after cooking.
This makes a huge difference. If you’re drying clothes inside leave the window open and/or get a dehumidifier, you can get chemicals ones for cheap or buy a proper one. Both work.
Third, some plants works well to keep things in check. I use snake plants to get fresh air.
We live in 2022 and we still haven’t got a hold of this issue. It’s not just social housing, council housing etc. we see it with new buildings too, surely it shouldn’t be an issue in this day and age.
How dumb do you have to be to let your child stay in a mouldy room?
Would you stay in that room? No, so why force a child to do so.
This is child neglect being covered up as the housing association’s fault.
Should the association repair it if it was caused by water egress or a burst pipe? Yes.
Should they have to do anything if the tenant is stupid and does not air the house out and keep things dry inside? No
I lived next door to a tenant for a few years who never opened the windows and would dry clothing inside. The amount of mould in there covered the walls and ceiling. She kept a 3-5 year old in that house also.
Cared more about getting high and her mobile than the child.
Saw it happen down the road as well.
this is bad, but Co pounded by the families inability to speak English.
I would suggest, if anyone wants to come here, learning the language is an absolute must, or they risk being if ored like these poor people.
I’m watching the downvotes fluctuate on this post. I’m just curious, why would you not want this to receive media attention? He had fungus in his lungs and blood.
My sister was put in a very similar condition of housing, thankfully it was temporary (2 years). Their response was to paint over it. The windows were awful and were the same windows from 1982, replacing them would have helped. This is a place for emergency/temporary accommodation so no one is even within their rights to treat the mould properly! Her son now has severe asthma, which I would tie to those two years as he was only 18 months when they first moved in there.
Parents should be persecuted for negligence. How can you let your child sleeping in this house? Criminal…
Good thing that local NIMBY’s stopped construction of new, higher quality, new-builds in their area
Once again, almost all UK problems are down to the Town and County Planning Act, reducing construction of new homes, leaving us with old shit that kills children
Feel so sorry for the family of that poor boy.
I’m having my own issues with damp in a rental (not nearly as bad as that family of course) and there seems to be people on this thread who know what they are talking about when it comes to damp/mould so I wonder if advice could be shared….
I moved into this property in May and there were no obvious signs of damp at the time, however LL had redecorated when I looked around so more than likely covered it.
The kitchen and bedrooms are the worst rooms as there are some quite big damp splodges on external facing walls. Quite sizable above the bed. There is a little patch beneath the skirting board in the living room but in general that room is a bit more manageable.
The house can get particularly cold (not even on particularly cold days) and it sometimes feels colder indoors than outdoors and suspect it’s poorly insulated as you can sometimes see your own breath. It was built in 1901.
We do the normal things like hang washing outside where possible (although it’s South Manchester so clear days are few and far between) and ventilate as much as possible. There are trickle vents I’m keeping open in bedroom / kitchen / bathroom. Too cold though to open them on everywhere in house though. We have heating on a low heat when it is particularly cold but running it constantly as some suggest is v expensive and also it’s not particularly energy efficient when we’re not at home.
Anyway damp patches are slowly getting bigger as it gets colder but there is no mould that I can see at all. We had an issue in our old property where you literally couldn’t open some windows (as they were falling apart) and there was a lot of black mould behind furniture in particular. In this house it all seems to be on exposed bits of external facing wall.
Wondered people’s opinion of the likelyhood of water getting in from the outside? Haven’t consulted the LL about this yet as I feel like he will say usual thing (turn heating on and open windows) as he’s a bit of a cheapskate, so don’t expect him to do anything unless it’s something simple like replacing a tap (which he still grumbles about).
Any advice on how to tackle this is welcome!
Landlord belongs in jail.
If you can’t afford to make a rental property habitable then you can’t afford to be in the rental business.
The child was having extreme respiratory symptoms, the landlord knew, and he did nothing.
Lock the owner up.