Mould in PRS homes is not a ‘lifestyle choice’ – Gove

How long before dehumidifiers and PIV fans are the norm, but then we're expected to pay for a separate 'landlords supply' for such items. It's simply easier to exit, ideally move overseas and chuckle as this s-show implodes.

"Landlords have a responsibility to investigate all claims of damp or mould" - fair enough.

"Damp and mold is never a tenants lifestyle choice" - absolutely not true, it definitely can be.

When a tenant refuses to open windows and blocks up or disables ventilation and when a previous tenant has acted responsibly and not experienced damp or mould problems how can this not be a lifestyle choice????

A significant contribution to damp and mould can be compliance with out-dated and il informed EPS requirements.

I own and let an older "character" HMO containing 7 self contained flats. It has no damp or mould problems .

But my last EPS suggested i install draught proofing and internal insulation to raise my EPS rating from E.

The draughtproofing (ie reducing ventilation) and internal insulation (creating relative cold spots where the insulation is not - would most likely introduce mould and damp into this damp free property!

I DONT WANT mould or damp in my property! But thoughtless blanket regulations are achieving the oppositite of what is desired.

We have sadly have and incompetent ill-informed government whose actions just seem to make the situation worse for both tenants and landlords.

Please THINK before you act !

Government stupidity has already forced landlords to raise rents to unsustainable levels - now they seem determined to make properties more mouldy as well !

Incompetent government interference is making these sort of problems worse not bette!r

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It's scary that someone who is so nieve and frankly cluelessly stupid can achieve such a position in government, mind he has the reputation of a back stabber, so that will sit really well with his boss.

We often have this problem and have taken action. Fitting auto - extract fans that don't depend on human action(a sensor) to activate/adjust on demand. We also installed a heat recovery ventilation unit including all bedrooms pumping fresh filtered air(85%+ heat recovered). This stopped it just about. Also, include a clause informing the tenant that they have a joint responsibility to prevent, clean etc any mould etc occurring. Redecoration costs WILL be deducted from their deposit. Gove, is nothing but an ill-informed muppet pandering to the likes of anyone or bodies such as Shelter & Co. All governments mess our business up! Sorry. 🤬

It really is a lifestyle choice in many cases. I have a flat, the bathroom has a powerful humidistat fan and in 23 years we have never had mould in the bathroom. A tenant has gone back to Poland for a month (which has now turned into 7 weeks) and her friend is house-sitting. The sealant around the bath is now black with mould and the white bath is now orange with a build up of limescale and the associated bacteria growth which leads to black mould. This occurs without a doubt because the bath has not been cleaned. I can see the whole flat has not been cleaned since the tenant left (the place was always immaculate not a sign of dust when she was there) Cleaning a bathroom once a week will prevent black mould occuring on the sealant. We have never had to replace sealant on the bath before. Another example my family of 4 lived in a 3 bed house for 10 years with no problems at all, never a sign of mould growth or even the bacterial Reddy, orange colours that come before the mould. Never knew such a thing existed back then as I was a fastidious regular cleaner. We moved out and rented out the house to 2 girls while we decided whether to sell the house or not. The 2 girls stayed for 6 months and the bathroom walls and ceilings were covered in black mould. Definite proof of a lifestyle choice and blatant proof that it is caused by laziness and total disregard for the consequences. There is a financial cost to rectify. We also have to add to the cost, our lost rental income while the work is done between tenancies and the council tax cost while between tenancies etc etc. If this is another cost we have to take out of our income and tenants are told they are allowed to creat mould and not suffer any financial consequences then the rents will be going up again to cover this ridiculous "nose wiping" we have to do for our tenants.

Here's a thought, tell Micheal Gove not to clean his bathroom for 2 months and see what happens

I have been looking after a flat in Cambridge for around 10 years now. It's ex local authority and the local authority are still responsible for the common parts including the external. It was a flat in which the landlord lived for the previous 10 years. When he was there was no shadow of mold although he did say he liked a cooler room at night. Over the last five or six years in particular the mould situation has become an absolute nightmare. We have had extremely good tenants using dehumidifiers keeping everything aired and still the mold is present. I finally put two and two together and realised that every time the building was painted outside it was painted with a non-breathable and that this must be the cause for the problem nothing else made any sense. So there is a very real way in which landlords are responsible sometimes. Contractors seem to know nothing about breathability in a building. Luckily the building has been compulsory purchased and I no longer have to manage this nightmare!

In my victorian 100+ years old HMO houses I never have mould problems.

In my modern 20-40 year flats I do occasionally have mould problems and it comes and goes with change of tenants.

Why?

a) because the old houses have drafty wooden sash windows that let fresh air in and the flats have nicely sealed double glazing that traps damp air inside. This could be considered a building issue.

b) because my hmo tenants are quite happy to open windows because I pay the heating bill whilst my flat tenants with mould issues keep their windows closed all the time because they pay the heating bill. This is a tenant lifestyle choice.

c) the HMO heating is on thermostat 24/7 so the houses stay at a fairly constant temperature whilst my flat tenants turn their heating off during the day whilst they are out and only turn it on when they come home so the flats fluctuate in temperature and this causes warm air to condense on cold walls. This is a tenant lifestyle choice.

I have had tenants who tape over ventilation bricks, disconnect or cover over extraction fans or close or tape over all the double glazing trickle vents! How can this be the landlords fault, this has to be tenant lifestyle choice.

I've been a landlord for 20 years, I have seen it all, I know what I'm talking about.
Gove is talking BS.

On the one hand the Government want draughts eliminated and airtightness improved but then how can they be surprised that the result is that condensation forms on which mould can breathe. Many a time we have gone into flats that are let and have found that tenants have switched off the isolator switch for the bathroom extractor. The isolator switch must be there by law.