TDS Charitable Foundation report

TDS Charitable Foundation report

10:38 AM, 12th July 2017, About 7 years ago 7

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The Tenancy Deposit Scheme’s charitable foundation has released a report ‘How do we stamp out damp, condensation and mould in the private rented sector?

Kate Faulkner of designsonproperty.co.uk was provided a grant by the TDS to write a series of reports (this is the fourth) for the private rented sector designed to increase knowledge and to promote best practice for the PRS in the UK.

To see the full report please Click Here.

The report showed that 38% of all tenants had experienced damp issues and 41% mould problems.

Kate said, ““damp and mould is undoubtedly one of the biggest problems in the UK PRS effecting the lives and properties of literally millions of people, but the problem is completely avoidable. By tackling these perennial problems, we can significantly improve the PRS, not only in terms of the quality of the tenants’ experience, but also the value of properties and landlords’ yields.”

The report is designed to help landlords, tenants, agents and the government work together to reduce confusion over whose responsibility it is for prevention, identification and treatment.

In conclusion the report finds “there is more scope for the industry and government to work
together to introduce steps to minimise the chance of properties being let with damp and
mould issues. This requires more effort on behalf of brokers, lenders, insurers, agents and
the industry itself, if necessary introducing additional government legislation.

“The biggest difference, though, can be made quickly by educating landlords better on how to
fix damp, mould and condensation problems and alerting tenants to what they can do to help
avoid it developing in the first place.”


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Comments

John MacAlevey

11:20 AM, 12th July 2017, About 7 years ago

“The biggest difference, though, can be made quickly by educating landlords better on how to
fix damp, mould and condensation problems and alerting tenants to what they can do to help
avoid it developing in the first place.”

The statement above could easily be said of tenants behaviour.

Errr..the majority of mould and condensation problems are caused by tenant mis-behaviour. This `Damp` problems are investigated & rectified at the owners cost. Thereafter we offer fulsome notes on how to prevent mould and condensation problems which are assiduously ignored by some tenants.

terry sullivan

15:39 PM, 12th July 2017, About 7 years ago

what has it got to do with her? how is the "charitable" foundation funded?

Cautious Landlord

18:48 PM, 12th July 2017, About 7 years ago

Oh dear. I thought Kate Faulkner was a well informed property professional - it appears not. Houses with central heating, windows that open, walls that don't have rising damp, have decent roofs and mechanical extractor fans get mouldy for one reason and one reason only - tenant lifestyle choice. It's condensation stupid - cold wall, warm moist air, inadequate ventilation and heating = mould. Solution - open windows, keep fans on, put heating on or if this doesn't work get a tenant who understands and takes some responsibility.

Mike D

22:50 PM, 12th July 2017, About 7 years ago

Well there's a waste of money, a report on condensation.......we all know as a home owner what the issues are, its really not rocket science is it!!
And when you look at 'The week the Landlord moved in' it really shows, the more you do for people, the more they expect you to do, and consequently the less they do and think they have to do.....This blameless culture we descended to is i believe the witness of the demise of mankind, where you have no responsibilities, nothing is your fault and its everyone else to do things for me...
The truth; parents treating their children like pets, they lack ambition, hardwork and an easy life of luxury and indulgence, they teach them little, as they run around after them, and they achieve little but incapable annoying lazy off spring. As a result, articles like this with PC behaviour dominate our culture while we descend as a nation with the Chinese willing to just take over......
Its your world you destroying, when you treat your children like pets!!

Michael Bond

11:02 AM, 13th July 2017, About 7 years ago

Why does the TDS have a charitable foundation"? Who funds it...tenants' deposits? Sems like fraudulent misuse of funds!
Of course unqualified statistics ("lies, damned lies, and....") make the PRS look worst in this field. We have most old pre-1919 properties and most fully occupied HMO properties. Would we show as worse than the so-called "Social " sector if the statistics were adjusted to take account of this? I doubt it. And we sometimes have to cope with capricious and malicious enforcement of ill-defined rules about Listed Buildngs.

Of course much of the problem comes from tenants, and those who moan the most are usually most to blame. But we have to sort out the mess and it is our properties which are damaged, so plenty of extractor fans which the tenants cannot tamper with, watch for broken,blocked or overfowing gutters; after that we can start to worry about the remaining more difficult problems.

9:53 AM, 17th July 2017, About 7 years ago

"Also, a report from the National Union of Students suggests damp, condensation and mould are the top problems for student tenants.... and that education and enforcement could be targeted at specific groups to make the best use of limited resources"

Ha ha so we need to target people like students with education! Clearly they're so busy being educated in pointless things of no use to anyone that they don't know that they need to open a window to let fresh air in. What do they think will happen to the condensate that they are producing? I bet they all know how much vodka their body can take before they fall over.

Evolution is going backwards. Some people are stupid and educating them means they're now educated stupid people.

Michael Bond

11:33 AM, 17th July 2017, About 7 years ago

I do have a little sympathy with the NUS. The accommodation my son lived in when he was at Reading University was very poor - a small room in which he could only stand up in the middle, insufficient storage, no desk or table. small grotty kitchen .I seriously considered taking it up with his landlord and the University accommodation office - and I have owned a student property (in Exeter) so know what is reasonable/achievable. But condensation was not the problem. As you say, condensation is usually caused by students who are not house trained - like puppies.

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