BBC Watchdog: Mould growing in flats

Tony

What Consumer Founder
Apr 7, 2008
18,307
3
38
Bolton
If you live in one of the UK's 5 million flats, you may pay a management company an annual fee to maintain the communal areas and the exterior of the building.

But the residents of one block of flats in East London don't think they're getting value for money from their management company. That's because of the black mould growing inside nearly a third of the flats in the building.

Mould keeps growing back
Carrie Murray is one resident who's affected. She bought her flat nearly three years ago, and for the last year she's had severe mould growing on the walls and ceiling inside her bedroom, bathroom and hallway.

She's tried wiping it away and painting over it, but the mould keeps growing back. "I've actually considered moving out but you can't move out. Nobody would rent it, nobody would buy it, you can't sell it," she told us.

Carrie's not alone. Nearly all the flats on the top floor have been affected. Marilena Reina, who set up a residents' committee in the building in December 2007, said that the residents have been asking the management company to fix the problem for about a year. She said residents would be happy to pay more to the management company to have it resolved.

The building is maintained by a company called Residential Management Group Limited, who claims to be one of the biggest names in the business. The flat owners each pay Residential Management Group £1,600 a year to maintain their block.

Leaks in the roof
We sent chartered surveyor Barry Cross to look at the damp, and when inside Carrie's flat he diagnosed the cause of the problem almost immediately. He believes there are leaks coming from the roof of the building, which are making any mould in the flat much worse. And because the dampness keeps coming, it's acting against any efforts made by the owners to get rid of the mould themselves.

Barry went onto the roof to have a look and found that the roof was in disrepair. He said the management company should get the roof renewed immediately before the situation becomes really serious.

Residential Management Group have sent two surveyors in the past 12 months to look at the roof and have made attempts to fix it, but when Barry looked at the work which had been done, he said it was temporary and hadn't fixed the problem.

We sent samples of the mould in Carrie's flat to be tested at a specialist lab in Finland. They found very high levels of different moulds, one of which could exacerbate asthma.

Inhalation can lead to furball-like growths
We spoke to Professor Robert Douglas, who's appalled at the mould growing in the flats. He told us inhalation of moulds over a long period of time could lead to severe problems in the lungs, including wheezing and asthmatic symptoms. In some rare cases, inhalation can lead to the development of furball-like growths in the lung which are very difficult to treat.

The residents could, if they wanted to, take the management company to a tribunal. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) is a body in England which rules independently on disputes between residents and management companies. There are separate assessment panels in Scotland and Wales which perform a similar function. In Northern Ireland, the Housing Rights Service suggests flat owners should get in touch with a solicitor.

Response from Residential Management Group
When Watchdog contacted the property management company Residential Management Group Ltd and the part of the company they use to manage the Dennis House flats, Wood Management, they said: "Two reports were received from surveyors during 2008, neither of which called for the immediate replacement of the roof. Given the continued debate and concern surrounding the condition of the roof, Wood Management, acting on the instructions of the freeholder, appointed a further firm of chartered surveyors to provide current advice on the condition of the roof and on any urgent roofing works that may be required at Dennis house.

"The survey was completed on Monday 17 March 2009 with the report being available now. A key finding of the surveyors report is that; "while temporarily repaired, the roof areas appear to be in sufficient order to remain watertight". The report also accepts that while the roof surfaces are reaching the end of their useful life, significant areas remain capable of satisfactory further service which will warrant further enquiry before committing substantial funds to wholesale roof covering renewal works. The decision on the future action to be taken regarding the roof will of course have to be taken in conjunction with the residents of Dennis house who'll have to fund any renewal programme via their service charge contributions. As detailed below, there are significant reserve funds but these are very unlikely to meet the total costs involved.

"We'll of course be happy to share the latest surveyor report with residents. The remedial works recommended in the initial report that Wood Management commissioned in 2008 were carried out during the summer of 2008 by local contractors. The costs for these works were charged to the service charge fund. Further minor repairs to the roof above flat [detail removed] were also completed in November 2008.

It should also be noted that another maintenance contractor attended [the] site in February 2009 as a result of a callout to attend to a suspected roof leak. The contractor inspected the roof and the internal areas of three flats. The advice which the contractor confirmed in writing to Wood Management was that the roof, although patched, was sound. They confirmed that advice was given to tenants on issues of condensation recommending they address their individual issues with the use of dehumidifiers, extractor fans and venting.

"There remains no evidence of current water ingress from the roof. In the majority of reported cases, the issue has proven to be that of condensation within the apartments due to lack of ventilation being provided by the residents within their own demise. In some cases original air vents have been removed and replacement windows without ventilation grills have being installed.

"In each case of reported water ingress from the roof, including the contractor who attended site last month, contractors could not locate any serious issue with the roof, and reported the event as condensation arising from within the apartment. Where roof defects were identified they've been repaired.

"There are sufficient monies set aside to pay for day to day repairs and of course issues which pose a Health and Safety risk. This is evidenced by the attendance of contractors to site in summer 2008, September, December and February 2009 in response to reported repairs. The service charge has funds for expenditure for routine repairs, but could not fund and isn't budgeted to fund the costs of wholesale replacement of the roof. Indeed any such scheme would require formal consultation with all leaseholders as required under s20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act.

"There's currently some £16,000 in the Reserve account, set aside for major works, that has been collected in this and prior years. We're happy to discuss with Residents their priorities for using this fund.

"There has been no expenditure in recent years from the Reserve account. The last works utilising this fund were in 2005 and 2006.

"The full roof repair that some of the lessees are requesting would we believe be in the order of £50-60k and the current reserve could only meet part of this cost. As described above, progressing a roof replacement will require full consultation and then upfront payment by all of the lessees of the sums due before the scheme could proceed.

"[Wood Management] fully accept that it's very distressing for residents when they face problems of mould growth in their homes. However, [Wood Management] believe it's acted on all reports from residents regarding these matters and have advised them on the relatively low cost remedial action that should be taken by them to assist with the problem. The replacement of the roof would not on its own, or in the professional opinion of the surveyors that have been engaged, solve the problems that some lessees are experiencing. Any dwelling without adequate ventilation will potentially suffer from condensation and mould growth problems.

"As managing agents, and on behalf of the freeholder, we're keen to work with all of the residents to address their priorities for expenditure on the fabric of the building and our property manager will shortly be writing to Ms Reina and other residents to arrange a further meeting to discuss the latest surveyors report and how they believe we should proceed. Our property Management Director will accompany the property manager to discuss the options with residents. [Wood Management] can assure you that both the freeholder and Wood management are treating this matter seriously and are keen to find a cost effective and speedy solution to the current problems that's agreed by all of the residents of Dennis House."



Mould growing in flats
 

JackAldride

Member
Oct 29, 2021
16
0
6
I hope there is no mold in my house. At least I don't see it on the walls or any surfaces, although sometimes I get the urge to check the house for mold.
 

RobertAmuts

New Member
Feb 17, 2022
4
0
1
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