A lot of new/younger renters seem not to understand that mould is a function of not enough heating and not enough airflow, so they keep all the windows and vents shut because they don't want any draught so they can keep the heating on less.
All of my properties have good insulation and window vents as they were required by building regs either at time of build or when windows were replaced so I make sure people understand what they're for when they move in. Having learned the hard way that left to their own devices most people will leave them shut 100% as they think they are saving money doing so.
This can be flipped round to a lot of landlords mistake rising damp for condensation.
Ultimately the cause cant be certain until an expert looks at it.
For reference do you open your own windows at home in the middle of a freezing day?
I actually might be forced to move soon, for a couple of years now there has been growing damp in my bedroom, I first noticed it when clearing out boxes in the corner and was mould behind them, and then damp started rising up the entire wall, this didnt go away during spring/summer of which I have windows open a lot for fresh air. The problem also gets worse when its wet weather outside so either melting snow or rain.
Landlord maintenance guy shrugged his shoulder, manager said I trust my maintenance guy.
Then council did a inspection as part of selective licensing scheme(so seems this scheme does actually have work done), and since I dont want to be evicted, I didnt kick off about it, but still they noticed it, they then showed me the outside wall, and called in the manager, she sent her maintenance guy, he then argued with the council saying its not external damp. This lasted for about an hour, the council then told the guy if he doesnt change his stance there will be a mandatory work enforcement which will be paid for by the landlord. At this point the maintenance guy rang his manager and was told to go another job. Was a phone conversation between manager and council inspector of which I was told what happened, other than the council said they will be sending people round to inspect the property.
By the time these people showed up the damp was visible on my inside wall about 1m above the floor, all alongside the back wall, and smell very visible when walking into the room. The ground was dug up outside and and some probes inserted into the brick work, they then diagnosed rising damp.
My property unlike yours has very bad insulation though, the window frames are literally rotting away, single glazed of course. About 3 months ago my LL text me saying I will probably have to move out at least temporarily for remedy work to be done by order of the council. Usually my LL doesnt get involved on anything personally, but this went all the way up to him.
Place is a bit of a tip, needs decluttering etc. as well (although not much in bedroom), so might end up just finally moving and dealing with everything at once. My rent is already very high compared to a mortgage, and whats on the open market is even higher, typical rent for 1 bed flat is about double what my sister pays for a 3 bed house all in mortgage.
There is a place for private rental I think for short term tenants that dont care about security, and also for the high end of the market, but I think the core needs to be handled via social rent properties, the country has put itself into a mess by now having a reliance on private landlords.
england.shelter.org.uk
