I’ve noticed in the last few years a prevalence of stories in the media focusing on the subject of ‘mould’, the issues it causes, and who should ultimately be responsible for it.
In particular when it comes to tenants who either rent properties socially or privately, it seems to be the case that the ‘blame’ gets shifted onto the landlord, and that it is ultimately their responsibility to both clean up and prevent the mould from occurring.
As someone who has privately rented a property before that suffered from mould, it is my opinion that mould is ultimately an issue for the tenant, and is completely preventable as well as treatable.
I was inspired to write this blog after coming across the following article on the BBC News website earlier:
A couple with a six-month-old child said they felt trapped in a home badly affected by mould and damp.
Simon Hunt, who lives in Brierley Hill, West Midlands, with pregnant partner Paula Reece said a problem started to occur a month after they moved in to the privately-rented flat last year.
Ms Reece said the family were constantly ill “with chest infections, coughs, colds”. Their son had been to hospital with issues doctors said could be caused by mould, Mr Hunt said.
The landlord said they were working with lettings agent Connells and the tenant “to get the mould issue resolved”.
The property had been fine when the couple viewed it, Mr Hunt said.
They started to report problems about a month after moving in.
“Couple ‘feel trapped’ in home affected by mould” – BBC News, 15th October 2024
Ah, “it was fine when we moved in”, that old chestnut.
The following is also worth pointing out:
The landlord, who asked not to be named, said a damp contractor attended the property in May, and advised the tenants to keep the property windows open, as this would help the circulation and to not keep drying (their) clothes inside the property against the windows in summer months.
This advice was “ignored by the tenants,” they added.
“We have been struggling for months to find suitable contractors to attend the works as the tenants have advised that only one contractor can be in the property at any time.”
OK, so let me tell you my story. Back in 2016, I moved into a new property, a nice little one-bed maisonette. When I viewed it, it too looked immaculate, having been freshly painted inside. On agreeing to become the tenant, the landlord told me the following:
“If you’re going to use a tumble dryer or dry your washing inside, make sure you open the windows slightly for ventilation. The previous tenants were always drying their washing inside, and complained about condensation on the walls, and damp and mould formed as a result”
The property had a garden, so obviously during the summer, drying my washing wasn’t a problem, as I’d just hang it up outside. But as I didn’t have the luxury of a tumble dryer, I had no choice but to dry it inside during the colder, wetter winter months.
The mistake I made though was not heeding my landlord’s advice – I preferred to keep the windows closed to keep the warmth from the storage heaters inside!
While cleaning my bedroom one day, I was horrified to find how wet the one wall was, then when I pulled my bed away, I was even more horrified to find black mould on the wall behind my bed, as well as all over the laminate floor under where the bed was.
Did I go running to the local media or make any threats against my landlord? No, I simply did what needed to be done myself – namely bought a few little dehumidifier moisture traps, then towel-dried the walls and floor, before using some thin bleach to clean and remove the mould.
When that was all done, I made sure that if I ever needed to dry my laundry indoors, I left my bedroom window partially open for some ventilation, to allow the moist air to circulate and escape.
Amazingly I never had a problem with mould again!
Why does mould happen?
Black mould tends to form where you have condensation. When your washing comes out of the machine, it is wet and needs to dry. The water doesn’t just magically vanish, it evaporates into the air, making it more moist and humid. When moist air comes into contact with a colder surface, such as a window or an exposed wall, it condenses and water droplets form.
Ventilation!
Of course, if you keep all your windows and doors closed, all this moist air has nowhere to go and just sits there in your property.
Something I find interesting is that many older homes were designed with cavity walls, and had what were known as ‘air-bricks’, which aided ventilation and were said to ‘allow the home to breathe’.
In recent years, in order to make older homes more ‘energy-efficient’, the trend has been to have these cavity walls filled with insulation, and many air-bricks have been removed or filled in, in order to ‘reduce draughts’.
I’m no expert on structural engineering, but it seems to me that this is what is making problems and issues with mould more prevalent.
I can’t find it now, but I recall seeing a similar story about mould issues, and this was in some ‘new-build’ property in the Longbridge area of Birmingham.
I can sympathise with people who have no choice, but if you regularly do washing and dry your laundry indoors, then unless you take suitable measures you WILL experience issues with mould.
But unless you let it spread and become rampant, it can be dealt with quite easily, using a bleach-based multi-purpose cleaner, and cleaning cloths or sponges.
Mould isn’t nice, and I do sympathise with anyone who suffers with it.
But in my opinion, unless you live in a property where defects clearly allow damp and condensation to form easily, mould is a problem caused by the actions of the tenant, and it should not be the responsibility of the landlord to have to clean up and ‘remedy’. Because as in the above BBC News example, as well as my own story, unless the tenant changes their behaviour, the mould will just come back again.
I will also deflect a portion of blame onto the media; for sometime they have been encouraging people to ‘save money on their heating bills’ by doing what they can to reduce draughts, by keeping windows and doors closed, and even ‘turning the heating down’. Which under normal circumstances is perfectly reasonable.
But if you don’t have the luxury of having some outdoor space to dry your washing in, you do need to have to accept that you will have to compromise by keeping a window or two partially open for some ventilation, so your washing can dry and your property can stay free of excess moisture in the air.
And in the event you do start to see patches of mould appear, then deal with it yourself, and quickly!
