Martin Lewis addressed some of his fans’ burning questions about renting, after admitting he heavily focuses on mortgages and homeowners because it’s simply easier to advise viewers when the system is controlled by financial institutions like banks rather than third-parties like landlords.
However, joined by a panel of experts on his Not the Martin Lewis podcast, the finance mogul explained how renters can bring up critical issues like black mould to their landlord without potentially jeopardising their tenancy in the property.
The Money Saving Expert combined two questions in the same section, with one querying if they could be compensated for black mould that was present in the property before they moved in while another explained they had mentioned a mould problem to their landlord but had just been advised “to keep the window open”.
Citizens Advice’s Judy Ford revealed that mould and dampness aren’t always caused by the lifestyle of those staying in the property, advising: “Sometimes they are structural which is 100 per cent the landlord’s responsibility.”
She also admitted that when the cause is due to the tenant’s lifestyle then ventilation is paramount and the landlord’s advice was actually on par. However, Judy noted: “It’s not about whether it’s legal to just say to the tenant ‘open the window’, it’s more about actually getting to the source of what the damp and mould actually is.”
After some more probing from a confused Martin, Judy explained it’s the landlord’s responsibility to figure out the source of the mould as it falls “under his repairing obligations as the structure of the property”.
Citizens Advice noted that there is currently no specific timeframe laid out for landlords to address issues like this. With another fan concerned about their landlord ignoring pleas to repair the property, Ben Leonard from ACORN advised they complain to the Environmental Health department at their local council who can issue an improvement notice.
However, Ben highlighted a major warning before renters take this action: “Once the council has issued an improvement notice you are protected by Section 21, No-fault eviction, but they usually give (the landlord) a window before the improvement notice is issued, where they can make repairs, and it’s in that window where they can issue a Section 21, get you out, and get someone in who they think will be less trouble.”
This would also mean the landlord doesn’t have to fix the initial problem as the property is no longer in breach without a tenant living there, as a shocked Martin added: “So that’s why it is worth the landlord, on a tactical basis, getting rid of them.”