Once a month Paul sends his family out of the house. With a mask on and vinegar solution in hand, he gets to work scrubbing the mould off the roof and walls of his home. It’s in his bedroom, in the kids’ bedrooms and play room, the lounge room, the kitchen. A few days after the clean, it starts to reappear and Paul spot cleans the growth until it’s time for next month’s deep clean.
Mould has been an issue in his Wollongong home since he moved in with his family a year ago. “It just keeps coming back and we’re getting no help from the real estate agent or the landlord.”
Reports of mould spreading in homes has soared amid the deluge of rain and flooding across Australia’s east coast. The issue hits renters hardest, with some landlords refusing to do anything about it.
“We hear from a lot of reports from tenants who’ve been struggling with mould and report it to their landlords or agents, and they will suggest it’s the tenant’s fault,” said Jemima Mowbray, policy and advocacy manager at the Tenants’ Union of New South Wales.
“[The tenants] are told to open a window, or clean the house more often, or do X, Y, and Z when the problem is clearly structural.”
Soon after Paul moved into his home, a handyman was sent to deal with the mould, but it didn’t solve the problem. Since then, the only solution offered by the real estate agency has been to open a window.
“We’re worried that if we try and push it too hard that they’ll just decide ‘we can’t be bothered dealing with these people’,” he said. “And that would be a big problem because I’m in insecure work. The market’s not great for rentals and there is no chance in hell I’ll be able to buy something.”
Mowbray suggested tenants contact the civil and administrative tribunal if their landlord refused to fix the problem, but said reporting it can create a tough choice for renters. “Even though people don’t want to live in a mouldy house, they know it’s unhealthy … sometimes making a fuss about mould has to be balanced up against ‘Well, will I get kicked out for making the fuss?’”
Dr Michael Taylor, an expert in building air quality at Flinders University, said the NSW Residential Tenancy Act is broad in its requirement for homes to be fit for habitation. He says this is where tenants get a lot of pushback given there isn’t any specific requirements about mould.
At the end of March, the Greens state spokesperson for housing, Jenny Leong, launched a private members bill calling for increased tenant protections in the state. This included landlords of residential properties being required to ensure homes are mould-free and have adequate waterproofing.
Six weeks ago, Leong put a call-out on social media asking Sydneysiders to share stories of their mould problems.
“I was told by the real estate agent it’s something I need to manage and deal with myself. Fast forward to now and mould covers the ceiling, the window sills, the toilet and whatever else is damp. It is impossible to get rid of myself,” one person commented.
“We ran dehumidifiers constantly and scrubbed every weekend, but it came back overnight. My partner lost his sense of smell and taste, I couldn’t sleep, my asthma was off the charts, and they just offered to paint over it,” another said.
While the wet weather has exacerbated mould problems for many people, Taylor said the issue won’t go away for everyone even if winter is drier.
“Mould growth isn’t always the outcome of too much moisture. There can be underlying conditions that have caused the problem that haven’t been solved.”
Taylor said if moisture has gotten inside a wall cavity from a leaking roof, for example, and it’s wet internally, then it could need replacing or the mould will continue to regrow.
About 10-15% of the population are sensitive to fungal spores and can experience itching, inflammation, allergies and shortness of breath, Taylor said.
He added that people who are healthy and well generally don’t experience severe health problems from mould exposure, but people who are immunocompromised can experience infections.
Paul said he and his wife worry about their kids’ health due to their exposure to the mould. They frequently talk about moving out. “We bounce back and forth like this isn’t safe, we can’t stay here … but we can’t afford to pay much more for a place.”
