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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

Mould? Oh that’s the landlord’s responsibility, say most tenants

Two thirds of people who have experienced mould are tenants in private, social or student housing according to a new survey.

Comparison service Uswitch questioned 2,000 adults across the country on 20 aspects of mould, and discovered:

- 64 per cent of those who've experienced mould were tenants in privately rented, council, or student accommodation;

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- two thirds believed mould to be entirely the landlord's responsibility;

- 40 per cent claimed they wouldn’t clean mould themselves;

- of those tenants with mould, 40 per cent said they dried their clothes indoors while 22 per cent left the kitchen or bathroom door open while cooking or showering, and 11 per cent admitted folding the shower curtain while it was still wet.

 

Uswitch energy expert Sarah Bloomfield says: “With the findings that the majority of those who experience mould are tenants, it’s advisable that they contact their landlord to come to an agreement on how to tackle it. Tenants should also be aware that if they pay the heating bills themselves, they have the right to switch energy suppliers to find a cheaper deal.”

Want to comment on this story? If so...if any post is considered to victimise, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals on any basis, then the post may be deleted and the individual immediately banned from posting in future.

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    All about heating and ventilating correctly, same property, different tenants , one set of tenants experience mould, the others do not, how often does that happen.

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    • 06 January 2021 16:37 PM

    It should be in future contracts that they are responsible to ventilate properly, and any mould damage is to be paid by the tenant.

    If not - Evict them.

     
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    absolutely agree, heat and ventilate!

  • Bill Wood

    Happens all the time.
    I've had a 1st floor flat for about 10 years, first 9.5 years no mould or damp at all. Now, with new younger tenants, mould suddenly appears. They just needed educating.

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    Trouble is Bill they just won't listen, or don't want to, I had the same problem with my daughter in a 70s bungalow, now got two ladies in their 30s in there and no mould or damp problems, this is one of the reasons why I prefer tenants 30 +

     
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    Andrew, where do you suppose the under 30's live because you'd no doubt be the same person who slates those who are 30 and living at home with their parents. Suggesting them all getting a mortgage would be laughable.

     
    Daniela Provvedi

    @Jackie, I'm sure Andrew couldn't give a fig about where the under 30's lived, as long as they aren't in his properties - and I would tend to agree with him.

     
  • George Dawes

    I agree about not having tenants under 30

    I had two sets of the younger generation in one of my flats

    To call them dim would be an understatement

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    And where do you suppose the under 30's live because you'd no doubt be the same person who slates those who are 30 and living at home with their parents? Suggesting them all getting a mortgage would be laughable.

     
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    Jackie, where the under 30s live really isn't our problem, and why would it be? but generally its the younger tenants that give us the most problems, a lot of car insurance companies don't want young drivers, it's all about risk, and keeping that risk to a minimum, that's good business sense.

     
  • James B

    Most of the people affected by mould will be tenants as homeowners get on and manage this stuff and clean / ventilate
    The majority of our tenants aren’t capable of basic stuff like this and assume it’s a repair .. we attend and wipe this stuff off routinely for many tenants .. it’s like having kids to look after in properties sometimes

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    Rather than just quote: "two thirds believed mould to be entirely the landlord's responsibility", shouldn't Landlord Today have asked for an independent solicitor's view on whether this quote is in fact legally true and would actually stand up in court if it came to that? - before posting that whole article. Bit lazy of Landlord Today not to do this - readers of LT are after all not necessarily legal experts. I think newspapers would probably have checked this out first before publishing. It's an important issue to get right, as I've heard of tenants getting in local environment health officers to report on mould in their flats and having medics write statements on how mould is affecting their health.

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    You're missing the point which is that tenants don't usually use any common sense and expect the landlord to deal with everything for them.

    If everyone used lawyers every time tenants claim something is our responsibility we'd all be bankrupt and our tenants homeless.

    Landlords know what their legal responsibilities are and usually go well above and beyond them to keep tenants happy which is the pragmatic approach and cheaper than getting lawyers involved and adopting an adversarial approach.

     
  • PossessionFriendUK PossessionFriend

    Solicitors are not required to authenticate survey results !
    ( Just because someone doesn't like the findings. )

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    Some Tenants think I'm 'Carson' their Butler!
    No idea how to clean, let alone ventilate and understand that condensation occurs in all property; it just needs to be managed and managed often in the cold weather.

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    • 06 January 2021 16:34 PM

    Just wait until the pandemic is over and then evict them.
    There will always be a reason why you can.

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  • George Dawes

    That's assuming it will end

    This one is going to run and run , like a runny nose, except this government ain't no lemsip

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    If you have an extractor fan in bathroom and kitchen over cooker tenants have absolutely no excuse not to use them and prevent mould. Some tenants never open windows. No ventilation causes mould.

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