One of our advisers recently helped a member with a question they had about condensation at their property.
Their tenant is currently working from home, and due to being in the property a lot more they had informed the landlord of condensation in different rooms.
The landlord hadn’t experienced this in previous tenancies and wondered how they should go about tackling this problem, or if indeed they needed to.
The advice from our team
Our adviser began by saying that yes, the issue of condensation in properties is certainly worth looking to.
Condensation in and of itself is not a hazard for the Housing Health and Safety Rating System and is unlikely to be a serious defect in the property that would give rise to a claim under the Fitness for Human Habitation legislation.
Despite this, condensation can lead to issues relating to damp and mould growth, both of which could be considered under the aforementioned pieces of legislation. Not to say our member's issue would certainly become that, but this is why it should be addressed and nipped in the bud.
It is advisable to work out why the condensation issue has arisen, and where.
Condensation typically arises where the moisture in the air has nowhere to vent to, often in areas like kitchens and bathrooms, or where the tenants are drying clothes internally. Where the ventilation is poor, or the tenant is not using the relevant windows or fans, then condensation may arise.
The adviser then signposted our member to our condensation webpage in the resources section of our website. This includes a factsheet landlords can give to tenants on how to combat condensation in the property, and the steps landlords can take.
If the condensation at the property hasn’t really been an issue previously, then it could be that the property itself can’t handle the tenant’s normal everyday life style without condensation presenting itself, so the landlord may need to take some steps to reduce it, or it could be caused by the actions of the tenant, for example drying washing on the radiators without opening any windows.
Our member thanked the adviser for their advice and said they would give our resources a read and try to establish the cause of the issue.