Damp and mould in a rented home are among the most common problems tenants bring to us, and among the most commonly ignored by landlords. The law is clearer than most people realise.
Your landlord is responsible for keeping the structure and exterior of the property in repair, along with the systems for water, gas, electricity, heating and sanitation. If damp is being caused by a defect in any of those — a leaking roof, failed guttering, rising damp through the walls, a broken extractor fan — it is their problem to fix, and it doesn’t matter what the tenancy agreement says.
Report it in writing. A text or a phone call may be all you have time for, but an email creates a record with a date on it, and that record is what matters if the situation ends up going further. Photographs help, as do notes of when the problem appeared and how it has changed.
If nothing happens after a reasonable period, your council’s environmental health team can inspect the property and order the landlord to carry out works. That route costs you nothing and often moves faster than anything else.
Where the disrepair has damaged your belongings, affected your health, or made part of the home unusable, you may also have a claim for compensation and for an order requiring the works to be done.
One thing worth knowing: if you’re worried that complaining will lead to eviction, there are protections against retaliatory eviction where disrepair has been properly reported and the council has become involved. It’s worth taking advice before you decide not to report something.