Mould forces Salford student out of flat
A student from the University of Salford was forced to move rooms late last year due to a growing issue of mould.
Adam Cronshaw, 19, had to move out of his flat in order to escape the mould which he could not shift. He said: “I thought it would stop growing so I kind of left it, but then it kept getting bigger and bigger so I had to sort it out”.
Mould can sometimes produce toxic substances, and inhaling or touching the spores may cause an allergic reaction, such as sneezing, a runny nose, red eyes and skin rash, as well as asthma attacks.
Mr Cronshaw said he started noticing a problem about two months into his stay at Campus Living Villages (CLV), and attempted to clean it twice before contacting the company.
When asked why the mould was appearing, Mr Cronshaw was told that because his room was above a cold staircase, the warmth from his room was causing condensation, making mould grow.
“I couldn’t use the radiator because it started growing mould whenever I used [it] or whenever there was any heat inside the room” he said, adding that the person living in the room directly above him had the same issue, and was given the same explanation.
Dan Wilson Craw, Deputy Director of Generation Rent, said: “students are less likely to know about their rights, and are possibly more likely to tolerate problems because they will be moving out to somewhere else sooner, and landlords take advantage of this.”
He added: “I do think there are some landlords out there that know they can get away with not taking care of their properties, because of this lack of awareness students have about their rights.”
Mr Cronshaw was told that the mould would keep growing back each time, so he eventually decided to move. He was not offered compensation, and would have to pay the difference in price if he chose to move to a more expensive room.
“Just before Christmas I moved into the new room, but even when I did, there was a little bit of moisture in the corner”, he added, explaining further that it did only last a week and he has not had any issues since.
Mr Wilson Craw mentioned that every rented home needed to have an Energy Performance Certificate, and according to the Government’s Energy Performance Certificate list, CLV’s accommodation is rated as an E. If it was an F, it would be illegal to rent it out to new tenants. This certificate has since been expired from August 2019.
The accommodation is located just off the University’s Campus, next to the main road and Salford Police Station, which regularly dispatches emergency vehicles across the day and night.
Adam is now looking forward to leaving student accommodation for his next year at university, but would like to see more done for future tenants.
