Councils and letting agents join forces to tackle damp and mould in the PRS

The government and council approach to damp and mould has been wholly misguided and entirely unhelpful. Tackling damp and mould is a joint enterprise between landlords and tenants. Suggesting that all damp is ALWAYS a landlord issue is wrong. It has led tenants to think that they don't need to do anyting .It is the landlord's job. Meanwhile, they feel they don't need to ever open windows, heat the damp rooms, close shower room doors, spin washing on fast spin or dry it outside..... Damp is complex. It is a problem that needs solving. Sometimes structural damp, poor insulation, leaks ARE landlord jobs. Sometimes it is lifestyle. We need detective work and co operation not blame.

How about the Councils getting all of their properties mould free before preaching to the PRS.

I had a tenant, a young mum with a baby, who ignored all my advice, never opened windows or trickle vents, dried clothes on the radiators, and failed to report a non working extractor fan in the bathroom. Fortunately she moved out, but her attitude was that it was all my fault. "I can't open windows when it is cold..." Very frustrating!

I find this idea about damp and mould very irritating. Firstly lets separate damp, water ingress and mould as different issues. If there is rising damp its the property owners responsibility to deal with it , if its water ingress from cracked render for example then again its for the property owner to deal with it. Mould on the other hand can arrive from different peoples lifestyles and may have nothing to do with the physical condition of the building. We very rarely find any mould growth in any of our all inclusive lets, because the tenants are happy to put the heating on ( ands sometimes leave the windows open ) but as we discovered only this week after a new tenant moved into a flat, within 4 weeks he has mould on the windows and walls. After I installed a large dehumidifier and over 10 litres of moisture was extracted in just over 12 hours I tried to explain about ventilation , heating, using extractor fans but this fell on deaf ears and the tenant has secretly reported us to Rent Smart Wales . They of course coming charging in like a bull in a china shop only to be met with 2 weeks of data from a sensor that I had installed to demonstrate that the average temperature of the flat was well under 14 degrees and the average humidity was over 95%. Once I explained that a we had extracted over 35 litres of moisture in 3 days and now the flat was averaging under 60% humidity they immediately backed off. However under the new welsh occupation contract I am now giving the tenant notice to vacate as he has broken terms of the contract. Now I already know that a court will not be at all sympathetic to my notice but it certainly sent the tenant into a panic. Hopefully this situation will resolve amicably. The lesson I have learned is keep a stock of top quality dehumidifiers and arm yourself with data as the blame will fall on us regardless of cause.

Reply to the comment left by Michael Johnson - Amzac Estates at 07/11/2024 - 15:29
I had a stock of over 20 dehumidifiers, every time I put one in a flat the tenants stole it.

Then there were the endless arguments over the electricity cost. Dehumidifiers cost nothing extra to run, as the electricity used heats the property. Explaining the law of conservation of energy to tenants I found to be a complete waste of time and effort.

Reply to the comment left by Michael Johnson - Amzac Estates at 07/11/2024 - 15:29
Which model of sensor did you install please?

Resisure
It’s a little more expensive but I get a weekly report showing humidity and temperature so I have some real ammunition when the authorities try and come down heavy on me.
On the de humidifier front once we establish that it’s lifestyle we usually subside the purchase for the tenants and they get to keep the unit. At £80 it’s cheaper than trying to repair the damage later on down the line