Mouldy homes are damp disgrace
Some of us more mature folks will remember Rising Damp as a hilarious sitcom in the mid to late 70s.
But the rising damp in council houses I’m hearing a lot about recently is certainly no laughing matter.
I’ve noticed a huge increase in complaints about dampness and that horrible black mould which creeps along walls, ceilings and ruins clothes is becoming a major problem in folks’ houses.
And, frankly, the way Renfrewshire Council is dealing with the issue is a damp disgrace.
I was talking to a pal of mine who was a councillor in years gone by and telling him all about the issue.
“I’ve been in that movie,” he says. “And I’ve got the T-shirt as well.”
“I used to get lots of complaints about dampness in people’s houses and there was always this big debate between the tenant and the housing official about whether the dampness was being caused by condensation, or water penetration from the outside.”
It seems that back in the day the council would make out that the problem was due to internal condensation caused by the tenant not having their heating on high enough and not having their windows open to air the place.
Then the tenant would be adamant that there was water getting into the walls and ceilings from outside and the council should take remedial action.
Apparently, it caused a right few Donnybrooks and my former councillor buddy says I should keep plugging away on behalf of the tenants until the problem is sorted - no matter what the cause.
Well, this time round since the vast majority of council housed have central heating installed and there’s better insulation, I’ve no doubt that the cause of this modern-day dampness problem in about three-quarters of the houses affected is penetration dampness from outside.
It’s not until you actually sit down and work out how many of Renfrewshire’s council houses were built in places like Glenburn and Foxbar, do you realise they are 70 years old.
And, in places like Hunterhill and Gallowhill, the houses will be even older.
Since old age doesn’t come by itself, I reckon time has caught up with many of these houses and the brickwork, pointing and roughcast, along with problems with the roofs are now letting in water.
Not only does the subsequent dampness cause problems with mould growing on walls, ceilings and clothes, it’s also a health hazard, causing respiratory problems like asthma.
This dampness is just one symptom of a council house repair and letting system that is almost grinding to a halt.
It can take as long as six weeks for a council house repair to be carried out and now people are being pushed into accepting a council house that is still in need of repair and being told the problems will be fixed after they have signed the lease and moved in.
I know one family in Paisley who were so desperate for a bigger council house so their children, who were heading for their teens, could have a bedroom of their own, that they recently moved into a property that was badly in need of repair.
The house had been unoccupied since February and the family paid for someone to re-plaster most of the internal walls of the house because they were in such a bad state.
Now that’s not the tenant’s job - the council should have been doing that.
It’s time the SNP-led administration at Renfrewshire Council made sure that people have damp-free houses to live in.
At present, they’re acting just like the errant landlord, Rigsby, in that Rising Damp comedy series.