Regulator report “Mould – It’s not Lifestyle”?

Following the tragic death of Awaab Ishak of mould-related illness, the housing regulator went after landlords with a brutal attack supported by their headline 2021 report. Mould – ‘Its not lifestyle’. This post is in no way meant to dismiss all mould as a landlord’s responsibility, but it appears wholly unacceptable to blame Landlords in the way the ombudsman has.

Similar anti-landlord conclusions were reached by the coroner who investigated the death and landlords have found themselves on the defense against tenants claiming detriment due to the mould.

Further, financial penalties are being applied against social housing providers who are no longer allowed to mention lifestyle as a factor. It appears some tenants are using mould as a way of reducing rents.

I had a tenant who was a ‘lettings agent herself’ who denied me access to a property yet alleged mould to a rent tribunal and council without my knowledge. I believe she did this to try and secure a lower rent. She falsely claimed the heating wasn’t working when she had state-of-the-art electric storage heaters. It took two years to see some form of justice, remove her from the property. After many visits to court, I secured a section 21 eviction. My section 8 had repeatedly failed on discretionary grounds due to judges being compassionate towards her. She denied me access to my own property making evidence impossible to gather and the law supported her in this.

Her actions follow the ombudsman’s report Mould – it’s not ‘Lifestyle’. But I believe this unsafe assumption should be debunked right here.

It is fact a building left empty and unoccupied may well become damp and mouldy. This is due to a lack of heating and ventilation. Since TENANTS and NOT LANDLORDS usually control heating and ventilation it is absolutely the case that lifestyle can cause mould and courts in Australia recognize this. ‘Mould is not a geographical phenomena.’

Further I believe the coroner who determined lifestyle wasn’t a factor in Awaab’s death didn’t determine the actual cause of the mould. She simply appeared to make a subjective decision it wasn’t lifestyle and I felt this was unsafe and I wrote to the chief coroner but received no response.

I feel given such a widespread impact on the landlord community, the cause of mould should have reasonably been determined before action taken.

I am writing this following a detailed study of publicly available information and coroner report and ombudsman publishings and I would call for action to be taken against people who fall below standards. This isn’t always just landlords! What does the property118 community think?

Paul

Share This Article