Mouldy tenants

[davek_964]

Annoying.

I lived in my house for 23 years - never a spec of mould in the kitchen.
House was inspected by the agency last week - they've noted mould in the kitchen on the wall above a cabinet.

Guess the tenants (been there 2 years) have never opened the kitchen windows........

Fortunately they will be leaving in about 2 weeks.

People are incredibly dumb.

[markymarkthree]

Semi next to me has been a renter for many, many years and has had about 4 different tenants. I have never heard of any mold probs, until the latest family moved in. All of a sudden there is mold. Interestingly for a family of 5, i have never seen a window open or washing on the line.

[FlyVintage]

Heartbreaking isn’t it. This bathroom was new 12 months prior - the tenants decided to disconnect the extractor fan because they didn’t like the noise.

[POIDH]

I had similar. 12 year years of renting a property without issue.
A couple move in and within weeks the bathroom had mould, and so a conversation about window opening and wiping it off asap if it appears was had.
A few months later even more mould. And so they reported me to Council (Scottish Landlord registered)...

FFS

[Crumpet]

You have to bear in mind that half the population really isn’t very bright. Throw in the belief that it’s always someone else’s fault, a total inability to find solutions to problems and, for the younger generations, very little in the way of DIY or maintenance abilities, and you end up with this situation on repeat.

Personally I’d vote for a cull. As long as fat, bald, middle-aged men were on the safe list.

[Simpo Two]

Crumpet said:

You have to bear in mind that half the population really isn’t very bright. Throw in the belief that it’s always someone else’s fault, a total inability to find solutions to problems and, for the younger generations, very little in the way of DIY or maintenance abilities, and you end up with this situation on repeat.

Personally I’d vote for a cull.

A good cull is probably what the country needs; it's just tricky getting it through Parliament...

[cb31]

We ended up renting our old house in London, same as others on here. No mould for us or the first few tenants then suddenly mould in the kitchen and bathroom. Tried asking them to open windows occasionally with no joy. Ended up having to put in permanent air trickle venting solution which they couldn't turn off which fixed it. Expensive and annoying.

[megaphone]

Fuel bills are so expensive now people cut back, opening windows lets out heat, using a tumble dryer is expensive. You could drop the rent a bit and make their life easier, or offer to pay for some of their fuel bill.

[Douglas Quaid]

megaphone said:

Fuel bills are so expensive now people cut back, opening windows lets out heat, using a tumble dryer is expensive. You could drop the rent a bit and make their life easier, or offer to pay for some of their fuel bill.

Is anyone offering to drop the OP’s mortgage a bit of pay some of his fuel bill?

[megaphone]

Douglas Quaid said:

megaphone said:

Fuel bills are so expensive now people cut back, opening windows lets out heat, using a tumble dryer is expensive. You could drop the rent a bit and make their life easier, or offer to pay for some of their fuel bill.

Is anyone offering to drop the OP’s mortgage a bit of pay some of his fuel bill?

If things are that tight maybe the OP is in the wrong game.

[98elise]

megaphone said:

Douglas Quaid said:

megaphone said:

Fuel bills are so expensive now people cut back, opening windows lets out heat, using a tumble dryer is expensive. You could drop the rent a bit and make their life easier, or offer to pay for some of their fuel bill.

Is anyone offering to drop the OP’s mortgage a bit of pay some of his fuel bill?

If things are that tight maybe the OP is in the wrong game.

It's simply how BTL works these days. The government and councils are taking as much money out of it as they can, mortgages are about the same as yields, and in the next few years more then half of BTL's will get a 15k bill for EPC upgrades.

[FlyVintage]

Unfortunately, the mentality of some tenants means that you could pay all their heating bill and they still wouldn’t ventilate. There is little motivation to look after someone else’s property.

We were “accidental” landlords; the photo above is (was) my other half’s house which failed to sell once we moved in together. Being a 200 yard walk to the entrance of a hospital made it an ideal BTL in theory. We had a number of prospective landlords come and look at it to buy; each one said it was far too nice for them to take on. I now understand their perspective. We’ve now sold up and are very glad to see the back of being accidental landlords. Letting a house that was once your home is not to be recommended if you have any emotional attachment whatsoever.

[megaphone]

said:

Hopefully the stepdaughter will get the bleach out.

[markymarkthree]

megaphone said:

Fuel bills are so expensive now people cut back, opening windows lets out heat, using a tumble dryer is expensive. You could drop the rent a bit and make their life easier, or offer to pay for some of their fuel bill.

Or they use the FREE washing line provided and it will all dry for FREE. Sorry but some folk are just plain thick.

[megaphone]

markymarkthree said:

megaphone said:

Fuel bills are so expensive now people cut back, opening windows lets out heat, using a tumble dryer is expensive. You could drop the rent a bit and make their life easier, or offer to pay for some of their fuel bill.

Or they use the FREE washing line provided and it will all dry for FREE. Sorry but some folk are just plain thick.

A washing line in the winter? Some folk are just plain thick.

[Hoofy]

Not so much thick as ignorant. My house suffered from wet windows and I was fighting mould for years during winter. Only in the last 10 years did I learn about dehumidifiers. I run one for 5 hours in the bedroom in the morning and move one around the ground floor now.

FlyVintage said:

Heartbreaking isn’t it. This bathroom was new 12 months prior - the tenants decided to disconnect the extractor fan because they didn’t like the noise.

That's got to be a breach of contract in someway? It will cost you to put right or will put off future tenants plus they'll complain about mould/bad health/bad landlord blah blah.

Edit: just saw your follow-up post so ignore if you want.

[markymarkthree]

megaphone said:

markymarkthree said:

megaphone said:

Fuel bills are so expensive now people cut back, opening windows lets out heat, using a tumble dryer is expensive. You could drop the rent a bit and make their life easier, or offer to pay for some of their fuel bill.

Or they use the FREE washing line provided and it will all dry for FREE. Sorry but some folk are just plain thick.

A washing line in the winter? Some folk are just plain thick.

Sorry but i am talking about the UK, where it hasn't been "WINTER" for the last 12 months since the thickos moved in nextdoor.

[LooneyTunes]

megaphone said:

Douglas Quaid said:

megaphone said:

Fuel bills are so expensive now people cut back, opening windows lets out heat, using a tumble dryer is expensive. You could drop the rent a bit and make their life easier, or offer to pay for some of their fuel bill.

Is anyone offering to drop the OP’s mortgage a bit of pay some of his fuel bill?

If things are that tight maybe the OP is in the wrong game.

Or maybe the tenants should have rented somewhere cheaper?

You find tenants do all sorts of things but it always comes down to a combination of heat/ventilation. It is more of a challenge with rental though because the occupancy density tends to be higher: more people, more water vapour being produced both directly and indirectly.

They'll also often attempt to mislead you when you do try to help: heating will be turned up more that day, windows will be open, but there are various ways you can see through that sort of thing. What a lot of them also forget is that they're often not the first tenant a landlord will have rented a specific property to.

[Trash_panda]

Simpo Two said:

A good cull is probably what the country needs; it's just tricky getting it through Parliament...

You mean like a deadly virus?

[Trash_panda]

Crumpet said:

You have to bear in mind that half the population really isn’t very bright. Throw in the belief that it’s always someone else’s fault, a total inability to find solutions to problems and, for the younger generations, very little in the way of DIY or maintenance abilities, and you end up with this situation on repeat.

Personally I’d vote for a cull. As long as fat, bald, middle-aged men were on the safe list.

Reminds me of a house mate (25) i had (work puts you into accomodation if working away from home):

• Owner via the cleaner have to constantly remind him to open a window so the en-suite bathroom can dry out
• Light bulb blew, not his problem
• Washing machine flooded the utility room, rather mop it all up (his clothes where in the machine) and let the landlord/me know, just decided it wasnt his problem and went out drinking instead. Then moaned when he came back that the landlord hadnt sorted it out on a bank holiday evening.
• Dryer started beeping randomly and i couldnt get it to stop, so just unplugged it (plug was above the dryer so visible), he couldnt figure out why it wouldnt turn on
• Dishwasher would be empty but would put dirty plates in the sink or on the side and would let it build up before putting them in the washer.

The above was pretty common with others around his age and it did seem to be that those who had lived away from home (for uni or moved out) would often be more proactive than my house mate, though i guess with generations staying at home for longer and having mum/dad do everything around the house still, why do they need to learn how to do it.