Landlord here. I have been renting my property out for 6 months now. Before renting it out myself and my wife lived at the property for 9 years and had refurbished the bathroom before renting. So I did my first quarter inspection at the property 3 months ago and I noted that the bathroom sealants had heavy thick mould all around the bath tub. I had put on new fresh sealant when the bath was refurbished at the beginning. I explained to the tenant that they need to dry water off the bath tubs and maintain the bathroom using the relevant cleaning detergents as I have lived there and we never had this problem if you maintain the bathroom properly. The tenant said they will start cleaning it hereon as they (him and his wife) were busy with work and don’t get much time. I did a 2nd quarterly inspection last week and again the bathroom has mould everywhere. I had informed the tenant that this is concerning as it can affect not only everyones health but is just not good. They said they have been cleaning the bath but it still happens. This isn’t true. I have lived here and this was never an issue. It only happens when you don’t clean properly and don’t open the windows. They said we don’t open windows as its cold. I think its just excuses but my query is at this stage do I have reasonable grounds to serve notice to tenants as I have not been happy with the way they are maintaining the house. Even the carpets and walls are starting to go black and dirty when I had painted all the walls before renting and the carpet is only two years old.
Assuming you had a 6 month initial tenancy then you could issue a s21, you dont need a reason at the moment. If you did a longer tenancy and are therefore within fixed term then it would probably be very difficult to evict for this. I assume there is no mechanical ventilation which is more effective?
Its a 12m fixed term AST with a 6 month break clause whereby each party can give 2 months notice.
Although the bathroom has windows I had installed a new inline extractor fan which is 3 times more powerful than a standard axial extractor fan in the bathroom before renting out. Ventilation has never been an issue in the bathroom.
If they open a window tell them to shut the door behind stops cold air reaching the house. However you get condensation at the interface of cold and hot air which will cause mould in itself .
Is it a humidity sensor fan?
How are they heating the house ? If it is timed vs thermostat regulated?
Is the sealant anti mould?
Astonish mould cleaner does the trick
If the mould is around the sealant then probably the problem is the sealant itself and the way it has been applied, perhaps there were gaps.Try stripping it out, drying it out properly then resealing it, but this time pay attention to the quality of the seal and whether or not the shape of the seal is actually encouraging water to stay in place or if the shape of the seal is effectively draining the water away. If the seal is recessed then the water will stay put and undermine the seal, allowing mould to form.
The extractor fan turns on automatically with the light so yes they use the fan. Its not a humidity sensor fan. They heat the house via central heating. The sealant is anti mould.
Nothing wrong with the sealant. I use a sealant tool to apply the sealant and it has been applied correctly. The water can not sit on the seal and it has been applied correctly, it slopes away. As I mentioned previously I have lived at the property for 9 years and have not had this issue and I have changed the sealant before, its never been an issue except if the bathroom is not maintained correctly (i.e. not cleaning and drying water after using the bath for example)
agree with Dean 24 . wipe downs need to be done as once they go out of the bathroom and turn light off, eventually the fan stops. If the light is not on at all then no fan? Humidity fans , independent of the light are better
You can get a greenwood cv2 gip fan for circa £60
It’s excellent
You need it to be humidity sensored in a rental
You don’t all ways shower with the light on
I’ve used it in all of the properties
Is the heating timed input out or constant
Timed heating likely to cause more mould issues