Green councillors Hannah Cooper and Karen Lewing have been visiting homes in the Arboretum where private tenants have damp or mould but are very worried about complaining.
Hannah says,
‘In February, I raised my concern for extensive black mould in the communal staircase of a residential building in the Arboretum managed by a private landlord.
However, I was told by city council officers that they couldn’t progress my concern without a direct complaint from a resident and they also needed evidence that a resident had also complained to their landlord before they could investigate further.
But the residents were too fearful of retaliatory action by the landlord, lacked confidence and some also had language barriers, so felt powerless to take action despite their health concerns.’
Karen says that there are further problems in terraced housing,
‘Where a property is a registered HMO there are regular inspections as part of the licencing process but other properties are falling through the net. I recently visited a resident in a terraced house with underlying health issues who showed me mould and the poor condition of their house, they also explained that the landlord has also skyrocketed their rent.’
Karen encouraged the resident to contact the city council’s Private Sector Housing Team if their landlord continued to delay essential improvements to receive help.
She says, ‘Although many landlords behave responsibly and keep their properties in good order, it is essential that prompt action is taken where there is a significant health risk rather than leaving the resident in a precarious position.’
Cllr Neil Laurenson the councillor for St Stephens says,
‘The government promised a Renters Reform Bill to create a fairer safer system for renters, but it has made very slow progress. Every day 172 private renting families in England are handed a Section 21 no-fault eviction notice by their landlord – that is one every eight minutes (1) whilst at the same time we know that unhealthy homes cause and worsen illness and can cut lives short. (2) It is the responsibility of landlords to identify and address housing problems, yet people are still living in housing where damp and mould is not treated with the seriousness that is needed to protect their tenants’ health.’
