Mould in PRS homes is not a ‘lifestyle choice’ – Gove

Reply to the comment left by Teessider at 12/09/2023 – 11:36
90% generalised nonsense mate. I myself live in a 19th century solid stone wall terraced house in the Welsh valleys (as are most of the properties I rent out) – I have never had mould issues.

Nothing special has been done to my house, I do nothing special whilst living in the house other than common sense.

To try to blame these older houses (which will outlast the cheap n nasty build-quality new-builds anyway, it’s been built 130 years and no reason to suggest it won’t last another 130 years) is just generalised ill-informed nonsense.

This is just another example of pro tenant / anti landlord (same thing) government policy.

I’m already selling my HMO houses which will seriously effect 30 tenants! How does this help anyone , let alone tenants?

Reply to the comment left by Steve Masters at 16/09/2023 – 10:17
You are right. Once again Government meddling produces the exact opposite of their desired effect. It was the same with the Financial Services Act.

Reply to the comment left by Jeff L at 12/09/2023 – 10:57
Just added another reason for me to keep selling off my portfolio.
What’s next , buying their toilet paper & wiping their as_.

Mr Gove seems to have lost the plot and misdirected himself. Indeed damp should not be treated as a lifestyle issue in itself. However a factual investigation needs to be undertaken in every case. It is only after the findings are determined can the blame culture he promotes be determined. More worrying is the idea that blame has a role in the resolution of the problem. Such a blame culture might reflect the anti landlord genesis within his department. For such an astute politician he is now misguided.

Reply to the comment left by David Shaw at 16/09/2023 – 15:58I believe the correct term is “Landlord of the stool”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groom_of_the_Stool

Reply to the comment left by at 16/09/2023 – 18:55
If a landlord uses his 30 years of experience to assess that damp in a bathroom is due to tenants switching of the fan or never cleaning why should that landlord have to pay copious amounts of money for an independent investigation because we are being prohibited from blaming the tenant. This quite obvious ludicrous situation will lead to more landlords leaving the market and the remaining landlords increasing rents again to cover such an eventuality. The situation is getting insane and we will probably be looking at a future when we will not be able to take deposits or charge the tenant for any kind of damage to the property or its contents.

Reply to the comment left by Slooky at 17/09/2023 – 08:29
Effectively we are already there.

Of course it’s a lifestyle choice for many. Most of us, if we see the 1st signs of mould on a window corner, bathroom sealant, or corner ceiling wall will clean it off and consider ventilating the room better. The pictures we see on the media the mould is mostly just left for spores to grow.
How many times have we fitted extractor fans and positive input ventilation systems cos some tenants won’t open a window or heat a room or manage the humidity when drying clothes or cooking.

We insulate the rooms to improve the epc and make it more airtight, then have to fit humidity extractors and pivs to resolve the new lack of ventilation. Sort of self defeating.