Stark Warning - Britain ‘in grip of damp and mould crisis’

We are a nation of increasingly lazy and ignorant people. People don’t cherish and look after their own things let alone other peoples’ property when they live in them. Constantly being told we can fail, it’s okay to fail and there’s no shame. There’s a bottomless pit of money on tap to pay benefits to you.

Now S21 is going you can do what you like. The landlord can’t get rid of you. A nice ombudsman stands ready to enforce all sorts of nonsense all on your behalf and award you compensation for things that are your fault too. Happy days.

JR is off again. The nugget is right at the end, people do not ventilate properly.

I wouldn’t be surprised what infestation there’s is and hardly anything to do with Private landlords, like the Library in Northolt, Ealing closed due to infestation of bed bugs coming back in the Books I kid you not, imagine if you get stuck with this lot.
We are on a hiding to nothing see property reporter boloney yesterday all singing from the same anti- landlords stitch up hand Book.
Andrew Lewer MBE MP - APPG fully of crap, and includes Poly Neate what she wants and Ben Beadle he is only interested in Redress money Schemes, all talking about more resources and enforcement to force landlords in Bankruptcy. Council’s must have more resources despite the fact they have Robbed landlords blind already but they must more of this 10’000 sleeping Rough in London is not enough let’s create some more for their friends with New High Rise unaffordable Flats to take over, can’t beat getting rid of the competition, no one representing landlords the main players in the game all have a lovely time about what they going to bring. We weren’t represented at all at any stage or at the Parliamentary Select Committee either. We have no voice and Ben done a big hatchet job on the NLA making himself CEO. In the article they are all have the same catch phrase “Section 21 is going “ that’s it get rid of that housing problems solved you idiots.

They rain he says soaked in through the brickwork well not if it a cavity the majority of properties and if its Stock Bricks in solid walls it might penetrate a little when it’s raining and evaporate when it’s not. Cavity insulations are impervious anyway. Has to be down to the occupants and their lifestyle the buildings were always there why would it be a problem only now.

The rise is damp appears to correlate with the increase in the cost of heating. People are heating & ventilating their property less & this is causing damp in their homes.

We had a damp proof report don’t for a tenant which warned the agents they would go to the newspaper over mould.
All comes out that the report stated all that we had been saying to the tenants. “99% of this is condensation”
1-Not using pan lids when cooking, 2-Not opening windows
3- Been drying clothing all around the house
4- Using the kids bedrooms to dry wet towels
5- Stacking refuse up inside the ingle nook fireplace

6-Packing rubbish at the back of wardrobes and not allowing air to flow

95% of the tenants now are making complaints over mould ( but it’s All condensation)
We had worse wet weather in years, so if you can’t help your self how can we help you !
Stop blaming poor Landlords over how you are living in a house, acknowledge your own fault your making the house ill and therefor making you and your family Ill..
What happened to a car when You sit inside with the windows shut?
( that’s what you do to your home )
Help us to help you, OPEN A WINDOW

Nick is right …… 🤔 WHEN we lose s21, and all these ombudsman’s schemes come in, they have us in a corner 🛑, irrespective of the truth, we are stuck with the tenant and will have to ‘ fix’ a problem of their own making, and WILL NOT be able to evict them 😰😰, and to top it off…. Have to pay them compensation 💰

Buy a Nuaire Drimaster Heat Positive Input Ventilation unit. Or a similar PIV unit
Cut 1cm off the bottom of internal doors.
Problem solved.
This is what Housing Associations have done in thousands of their houses and flats.
This is what I've done and it works.

It's funny how these so called damp and mould problems only occur in rented properties.

Waste of time putting in Fire Doors and air tight seals then.

The cause of mould is condensation onto cold surfaces within the property - this condensation is almost always caused by high humidity levels within the property caused by the actions of the tenants plus a lack of ventilation & heating.
Tenants make this situation much worse by drying clothes within the property - I try to explain this but I might as well be speaking Swahili.
Gove (TW-T) is also brain dead on this subject as are all local authorities public heath & Citizens Advice departments.
The solution is simple - HEAT THE PROPERTY & OPEN WINDOWS FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS EVERY DAY PLUS STOP PRACTICES THAT INCREASE THE HUMIDITY WITHIN THE PROPERTY!

so difficult when theres a leak from the flat(s) above and you cant contact the owner for that flat or trace the leak - they dont care if the leak isnt affecting them , tenants havent got a clue

The modern houses have no fresh air.
It use to be law to have an air brick in every room of the house.

Landlords should be offered a special government subsidized scheme in conjunction with the energy companies so that they can include unlimited gas and electricity in the rent. That would go a long way to solving damp and mould, as well as improving tenants' quality of life.

However, due to the Renters Reform legislation and what the Labour Party has said, many landlords are telling their tenants to leave now, so all improvements become irrelevant.

If you live outside of the Westminster bubble in the real world you'll know that tens of millions of homes in the UK were built for solid fuel - Coal & Wood with open fire places, and so they were designed to allow free air flow. Come the 70s and Clean Air controls and North Sea Gas people are pushed to ditch the smoke and mess for Central Heating which was fine as it was cheap and clean but now fuel prices are rocketing and we all have to go green, people are being told to seal every nook & cranny trapping the moisture from breathing, cooking, washing inside, coupled with everything being painted with plastic and not chalk based paints results in your owh greenhouse effect complete with nature's response of mould. PIV systems, dehumidifiers can help but the reality is all these are expensive and many people can't see the benefit of something that costs them thousands to install, makes the house a little draughty and colder.... I spent more than a thousand pounds putting in a heated piv system in a property and got no end of complaints about the draught.... You can't win. The Government needs to spend money on a proper functional home improvement system for all average income homes.

Of course the real irony is zero carbon new builds with Triple Glazing, Heat Pumps, Solar and Rain Water Harvesting aren't even mandatory....

I got a call yesterday, said it was in response to my housing issues...I asked what issues these were and she replied it was about the damp and mould in my home! Of course it was one of those urging you to go after your landlord for compensation! This is the new PPI. When i said she was welcome to send round a team of builders at their expense to tackle any 'issues' I have in my owner occupied home surprisingly she hung up!

The final paragraph say it all “Condensation often creates damp as well. We all experience condensation in our homes when cooking or after a shower. Good ventilation is key, moisture has to be allowed to escape. Many people don’t ventilate adequately in an effort to preserve warmth in the home.”

Every mould and damp issue I have ever experienced is cause by tenants lack of knowledge or daft actions.

One property returned to me by departing tenants had windows and blinds covered with mould. Upon removing the mould covered blinds, I discovered that the tenants had installed the blinds directly to the window frames covering over the window vents in the closed position, blocking the vents completely on every window in the house. Yet the tenants are surprised they suffer from mould.

In another property i found the tenants had taped over all the vents in every bedroom.

The property rental agents I use inform me that mould is a common problem, in virtually all cases caused by tenants failure to property heat and properly ventilate the property. The agents have even taken to issuing every tenant with a document outlining what the tenants need to do to properly ventilate and avoid mould.

Why does the article not refer to LL and agents experience with tenants actions and behaviour that is at the root cause of most mould or damp problems?

I thought David Brown were famous Tractors 👍

Most houses in the mid-50s are built in 250mm cavity construction with DPCs to avoid moisture penetrating the inner skin - so the construction of homes is not the main problem, as this writer suggests.

Further, under NHBC standards 5.1.19, DPCs should be, and are, positioned at least 150mm above external finished ground or paving level · linked with any DPM.

Regarding condensation, the writer again misses the main problem - yes, apart from adequate ventilation, the occupier should keep the whole property during winter
at a minimum of 16 degrees. The problem here is due to recent high energy costs radiators are only turned on sparingly; this life style choice exacerbates the condensation problem that contributes to internally caused mould and dampness.

After the Renters Reform Bill goes through long term tenants would be expected to clean their gutters, kitchen drains, pipes, etc, when blocked.