Here is a blog clinic question from Kelly, who is a tenant
I have been living in my 3 bed house for 5 years, it is rented from an agent. In the last 2 yrs there has been black mould growing in the bedrooms getting increasingly worse, one of my children has developed breathing problems and we all suffer with coughs whilst we are in the house.
I have informed the landlord several times but they have done nothing at all.
First of all note that I am a solicitor not a surveyor or building expert, so I can’t give you cures for mould or instructions on how to remove it.
All I can do is talk about your legal situation as a tenant.
There are two elements here:
- The condition of the property, and
- Its effect on your health
So far as the condition of the property is concerned, it is important to know what the cause of the black mould is. Before you start taking action against the landlord you need to be sure that it is not due to anything you are doing, or not doing.
Things like ventilating the room properly or having proper heating (as I said I am not a surveyor – you need to speak to someone who can advise properly on this).
One thing you can do which is free, is ask for your Local Authority to attend and carry out a Housing Health and Safety Rating survey. The only problem is that they are almost certianly very busy so it may take a while before they can do this for you. But they should be able to advise you on the cause of the black mould.
If it looks as if the problem is down to the landlord, then as you and your children are experiencing health problems, it may be best to speak to a personal injury solicitor to see if you could bring a claim for compensation. This work can normally be done under a ‘no win no fee agreement’. If you use a solicitor who understands housing law then the claim can be combined by a claim regarding the condition of the property.
DON’T answer one of those advertisements for companies who offer no win no fee agreements. Practically all solicitors will do this anyway, you don’t need one of these companies to find a firm for you. Often they will send you to a firm a long way away. Look for a nice local firm.
If you have already told the landlord about the problem and they have done nothing, it may need the threat of court proceedings.
Beware however that the landlord may decide that you are a ‘troublemaker’ and decide not to renew your tenancy at the end of the fixed term. Unfortunate but true.
If the mould is not the result of disrepair, it may be possible to bring a private prosecution for statutory nuisance under the Environment Protection Act. But this is tricky and not a DIY job.
Just a quick note here to add that Anthony Gold – the firm where NL and David Smith (who also comments on this blog) work – offers a service to bring Statutory Nuisance claims (in the London area).
You will find them online here: http://www.anthonygold.co.uk/site/srvindividuals/srvind_housing_public_law/
The tenant should also be aware that he/she may face a retaliatory eviction should the enforcement route be taken.
Mould can be a very tricky situation.
It is most frequently caused by condensation rather than a leak or rising damp. The fact it is growing in multiple bedrooms would immediately suggest it is casued by condensation.
We let a lot of small flats and condensation is a very common problem. We issue information leaflets on how to help avoid it.
If it is condensation, then it is most likely caused by your living habits. Insufficient heating, lack of ventilation and creating too much moisture can all cause condensation.
We advise the following:
Be sure to heat the property adequately.
Make sure window trickle vents are open (if present).
Open the bedroom windows a few centimetres for an hour or two every day and especially at night if possible (and not a security risk).
Use pan lids when cooking.
Dont air-dry clothes in the property.
Don’t use an unvented tumble dryer.
Make sure you always use the bathroom and kitchen extractor fans if present.
It is proven that mould can damage your health, so if you do see mould you should wipe it off, don’t just let it grow! Use a mild bleach solution.
Even if the condensation were caused or made worse by a design flaw in the building, there is little your landlord could reasonably be expected to do about it.
If it is condensation, it is unliklely your landlord is liable, unless of course it was because he failed to fix the heating or extractor fans for a prolonged period.
Thanks Jamie, that is really helpful.
Try the measures I have outlined to see if it helps, especially if you want to keep your tenancy.
You should definitely clean the mould as best as you can (without damaging the property and after taking pictures) otherwise the landlord may try and claim the cost for cleaning/redceorating from you at the end of the tenancy.
If things get worse and you are not convinced that it is condensation, you should insit that the landlord obtain a report from a specialist. Make sure all your correspndence is in writing and keep a copy.
JamieT is right – don’t just leave the mould to grow for two years.That’s asking for trouble. Tenant behaviour is often the cause of mould. Drying washing indoors is a frequent problem. Bathrooms and kitchens need ventilation after use.
The mould spores will grow on moisture – but people don’t realise that the human body emits up to 2 litres a day through breathing and perspiration.
So sleeping in a bedroom with doors and windows closed is a simple prescription for mould. Even worse if the bed is pushed against the wall, because believe it or not, moisture from your body goes into the mattress and condenses in the coldest place.
Damp from structural defects tends to appear either in the ground floor walls up to about one metre because the DPC has failed, or in the top of bedroom walls because the gutters or roof leak.
And that will be easy to spot in this summer weather.
One final thought – improving energy saving has a high risk consequence. Failure to ventilate living spaces reduces internal air quality with adverse consequences for health. See the NHBC report on Internal Air Quality – http://www.nhbcfoundation.org/Researchpublications/Indoorairqualityinhighlyenergyefficient/tabid/424/Default.aspx
There used to be a helpful leaflet on this issue called ‘Keep your Home Free from Damp and Mould’. You can still view this on the Wycombe Council Website here:
http://www.wycombe.gov.uk/council-services/housing/private.aspx
And Cherwell Council here:
http://www.cherwell.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5081
Hope this is helpful
All the comments on the cause are almost certainly 100% correct. Damp rarely happens these days unless it is a really old tatty property or there has been a failing in the dpc or it has been breached such as by raising the ground level above the dpc.
Condensation is a phenomenon of modern living our parents and for sure grandparents and beyonds never suffered from it – why, because they always had windows and doors open.
One thing I would disagree with though is Tessa’s estimate of how long to get a HHSRS visit. It’s the same as a roadside breakdown tell the AA there is an 8 months pregnant female in the car and they come to you first.
Tell them there is a young asthmatic chile wheezing and the EHO will be there within days (for fear of being sued themselves if they don’t).
Be prepared for eviction though if you call in the EHO. The suggestion of suing the Landlord and Statutory Nuisance I think are very remote shots. Possible – but very remote esecially with the burden of proof on the tenant
The trick with condensation dampness is to point to any leaks, penetrating dampness, rising dampness or similar and say that that clearly could have caused and/or exacerbated the condensation dampness, thus the landlord should be liable. The expert I often use helpfully bungs this into almost all his reports and I’ve managed to upstuff my local authority with it on quite a few occasions.
I once had a tenant that just about hermetically sealed the apartment they were living in. They shut all the trickle ventilation, turned of all the extractors, were drying washing in the property and living there with two small children.
They were most unhappy when told that they had caused the black mould in the property and the ill health of their children.
Improvements in draught exclusion and insulation mean that people need to understand the importance of ventilation. The damp air has to go somewhere otherwise it will allow bacteria and mould to grow.
When I was growing up there wasn’t double glazing and draughts came under doors. All this meant that homes were constantly being ventilated. Its a balance to keep somewhere warm and dry.
Black mould is a class 1 hazard and is as previously mentioned caused by moisture in any form from leak to condensation. Health effects are recognised to include the trigger of asthma, Chronic fatigue syndrome and various skin and respiratory issues.
The application of HHSRS and investigation by local authorities is likely to be worthless as they usually have no resources other than visual application of HHSRS which cannot identify interstitial or hidden issues or of course identify sub-micron toxins or allergens.
The water source must be eliminated, the mould removed (NOT KILLED) and where health issues are a concern or risk evidence of decontamination should be provided.
There are now simple sampling techniques to identify live and dead or non-viable mould but lab analysis cannot be used on its own and surveyors who specialise in both moisture detection and analysis should be used to avoid unnecessary costs.
These protocols are set out in the World heath Organisation Guidelines on Dampness and Mould 2009 and a copy is available for free down load from the resources section of http://www.buildingforensics.co.uk where a mould specific discussion group is available too.
The specification of bleach is most likely illegal and you will find companies such as Domestos have disassociated their products as a mould killer. Dead mould and its fragments are possibly a greater health hazard than live mould.