Black mould – cleaning issues?

Reply to the comment left by Jill Lucas at 18/11/2022 - 14:21
I think in this case you can just blame the landlord.

Whatever is the point, when faced with the tragedy of a 2-year old boy dying due to the neglect of the landlord, people feel obliged to trot out all the old anecdotes about how the lifestyle of tenants has in many cases been responsible for the presence of mould?

Why is it so difficult to recognise that there is a problem in the PRS with substandard housing and landlords who refuse to deal with defects when they arise? The size of the problem is open to debate but ignoring it or pretending that it does not exist does us no favours at all and gives added ammunition to those who would tar us all with the same brush.

I agree that mould can be caused by either tenant neglect of basic cleaning and/or faults in the building itself. Overcrowding is a major issue. Victorian houses were designed with working fireplaces and draughty sash windows. When they were converted into flats with no fireplaces and families occupying every floor it is inevitable that there would be a different type of airflow and ventilation.
I have a studio flat which had mould present with tenants who had furniture and other goods piled up against most of the walls. They were happy to have a de-humidifier running most of the time to try to reduce the mould. When they left, more minimalistic tenants took residence and despite the fact that it was a couple who later had a baby in the studio flat, there was absolutely no sign of mould. It is a lot about usage and regular cleaning.
I have issues all the time with lack of regular cleaning and build up around shower trays. There is always an argument about responsibility on check out.

Dear Seething Landlord

It is clear for ALL to read across wide-ranging media sources that the child's death occured due to multiple issues wholly within the SOCIAL HOUSING sector. Different legislation (and scapegoats) unavailable to the PRS exist for those various bodies.

Let's be clear: no one here regrets the plight of the family. No one is saying it is their fault.

It's a system failure of our two-faced government:

NO rules for social housing - vs - rules aplenty & growing for the PRS.

NO fines or resignations needed for social housing failures - vs - commercial & social Armageddon for the same event in the PRS.

The post and its commentators simply flag up that black mould causes are a well known issue in the PRS and even our best kept properties are not exempt. Lifestyle choices of tenants as the cause are not wholly within our remit. That is the point - nothing else is insinuated.

Some of us have commented on how we have got really creative over the issue of black mould formation - and have put some serious time into researching combative products - and have bought and applied them.

PRS members who have addressed lax tenant-behaviours towards obvious mould growth in their rentals are only stating the obvious frustration. With a fully compliant property there is no reason for it to attract black mould where good home hygiene standards prevail.

Sorry, SL - getting het-up with the PRS for Social Landlord failings is not helpful.

Lord
BA (Hons) in Social Policy

Thie property concerned in this case, was managed by a social landlord in the form of a housing association.

That's not to say that there are criminal landlords in the PRS who fail to respond to tenant concerns and regard periodic inspections and repairs purely as a cost, rather than an opportunity to maintain a good relationship with their tenant while heading off larger bills (and fines).

Damp and mould has to be viewed on an individual basis, while balancing the history of previous tenants experiencing the issue in the property.

As highlighted above, tenant education and regular inspections are essential. In doing so, they will help you get a better idea of whether the issue may be down to something outside their control and require works to improve insulation, heat distribution and ventilation.

A good tenancy agreement will include a clause such as ". . to keep the Property at all times well and sufficiently aired and warmed during the tenancy"

One solution not mentioned so far is installing a heat recovery vent. We put one in the north facing bay of a ground floor Victorian property, which had a long history of damp issues and required regular redecoration. After that, subsequent tenants had no issues and our end of tenancy decoration costs fell.

Mould can be caused by tenants' lifestyles, but in extreme cases there is likely to be a reason. we had mould reported in a bedroom of a student HMO - we found that there was a leak from the shower next door. Once the leak was fixed and the area dried and cleaned there was no repeat of the problem. As landlords we should always check for a cause. Mould due to lifestyles is more likely to be on an outside wall or in a bathroom. Even then, there can be a structural cause. As a student, our daughter fought mould in her bedroom. She ventilated and heated the room and bought a dehumidifier but the root cause was that the room was in a single skin brick extension.

Reply to the comment left by LordOf TheManor at 18/11/2022 - 17:14
I am certainly not getting het up with the PRS for social housing failures but I am becoming extremely irritated and annoyed at the way the original post was framed and the responses to it.

It clearly implied that this was another example of landlord bashing and asked why these cases attract so much media attention, when the answer is glaringly obvious.

Most of the contributors have jumped on the bandwagon and instead of expressing their disgust at the behaviour of the housing association in question, launched into self-justification by quoting examples from their own experience implying that tenants are invariably responsible for mould in their properties.

A badly framed question then - refer it back to the poster.

SL - please relaunch this on a new thread.

If your point is that there is NO ENFORCEMENT of housing standards in the SOCIAL HOUSING SECTOR equivalent to that of the PRS - please call that out loud and clear.

That should deliver the hue and cry response you've been waiting for.

Lord

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Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 18/11/2022 - 13:13
So what exactly was wrong with the building in this seeing you seem to know all about the details?
I have to agree thogh with other comments on here that in the majority of cases the tenant is the cause by cluttering, not airing and not cleaning as I have had exactly that in one of my properties.

Reply to the comment left by LordOf TheManor at 18/11/2022 - 18:32
My point is simply that a series of diatribes against tenants in general is not an appropriate response to this tragedy.