Damp and mould in a rented home: your landlord’s responsibility

Condensation, rising damp or penetrating damp?

The cause decides who fixes it, and the landlord is the one who has to find it. Shelter says that if they can’t, they should bring in a damp surveyor at no cost to you.

Penetrating damp

Water getting in from outside: a leaking roof, missing tiles, broken guttering, cracked walls, rotten window frames, or a leaking pipe inside. Usually the landlord’s job, because they must keep the structure, exterior and pipes in repair.

Rising damp

Ground water rising through the walls, mostly in basements and ground-floor rooms. The landlord is often responsible, especially where an existing damp-proof course has failed. Whether fitting a new one counts as a repair or an improvement is decided case by case.

Condensation

Moisture in the air settling on cold walls and windows. It is the landlord’s responsibility if it comes from something they must fix, such as broken heating, a dead extractor fan or windows that won’t open, if it damages the building, or if it is bad enough to make the home unfit or a serious hazard.

Your part: open windows or run fans when cooking and showering, keep vents clear, and avoid drying clothes on radiators with the windows shut where you can.

How to report damp and mould

• Write to your landlord, or the letting agent if they manage the home, as soon as you notice it. Email is fine; it gives you a dated record.
• Say where the damp is, when it started, what you think is causing it, any damage to your belongings, and any effect on anyone’s health. Ask when they will inspect.
• Attach dated photos, and keep taking them as it spreads or comes back.
• Keep every letter, email and text, and note the date of each call and visit. Keep receipts for anything you have had to buy, and any doctor’s notes.
• Let them in to inspect and do the work. They should give you around 24 hours’ notice and come at a reasonable time.
• If nothing happens, write again, remind them of their duties and give a deadline for a reply.

Shelter has a free repair request letter template. After the work, Shelter says the landlord should check at least six weeks later that the damp hasn’t returned.

When the landlord won’t act: the council

Contact your council’s private housing or environmental health team (find your council) and ask for an HHSRS inspection. Raise it with your landlord in writing first, and send the council copies.

• A hazard awareness notice tells the landlord about the problem.
• An improvement notice orders specific work within a set time.
• A prohibition order stops all or part of the home being used. For a category 1 hazard the council can do the work itself and recover the cost.
• Since 22 June 2026, councils can also fine a private landlord up to £7,000 where they find a category 1 hazard, which includes severe damp and mould.

A landlord who ignores an improvement notice commits an offence, and you may then be able to claim back rent. How a rent repayment order works.

Can your landlord evict you for complaining?

Not for that reason. Since 1 May 2026 a private landlord can’t use section 21 to end your tenancy without a reason. They must serve a section 8 notice on a legal ground and prove it in court if you stay, and asking for repairs is not a ground. What changed when section 21 went.

The old protection against a “revenge” section 21 still matters if you got a section 21 notice before 1 May 2026. Shelter says that if the council served an improvement notice or emergency works notice after you complained, a section 21 notice is not valid for six months. Shelter on revenge eviction.

A landlord who harasses you, cuts off services or changes the locks is breaking the law. Illegal eviction and harassment.

Compensation and disrepair claims

If the landlord knew and didn’t act in a reasonable time, you can ask for compensation: first in writing, then in the county court. Under the fitness for habitation duty, the court can order the work, award compensation with no fixed limit, and sometimes make the landlord pay your legal costs. If an agent manages the home and ignored you, you can also complain to the agent’s redress scheme.

Keep the evidence from the reporting stage: it is what a claim rests on. Shelter on compensation for poor conditions.

Awaab’s Law: social housing now, private renting not yet

Awaab’s Law is named after Awaab Ishak, who died aged two in December 2020 from a respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his family’s social rented home. It sets legal deadlines for landlords to investigate and fix dangerous hazards.

In social housing since 27 October 2025

Council and housing association landlords must follow the Hazards in Social Housing Regulations 2025, which came into force on 27 October 2025. For damp and mould that poses a significant risk of harm:

• Investigate within 10 working days of becoming aware of it.
• Give the tenant a written summary within 3 working days of the investigation ending.
• Complete the work to make it safe within 5 working days of the investigation ending, and start any further work within 5 working days, or at the latest within 12 weeks.
• Emergency hazards: investigate and make safe within 24 hours.
• If the home can’t be made safe in time, offer suitable alternative accommodation at the landlord’s cost.

Phase 2, adding hazards including excess cold and heat, falls, fire and electrical hazards, is due from 30 November 2026, subject to Parliament. Phase 3, covering the remaining HHSRS hazards except overcrowding, is planned for 2027.

Private renting: consultation open, no start date

The government has committed to extending Awaab’s Law to private renting as part of its Renters’ Rights Act reforms, but it is not in force for private renters. On 9 October 2026 the government opened a consultation on extending it, closing at 11.59pm on 18 December 2026. It proposes broadly the same deadlines as social housing, including 10 working days to investigate and 24 hours for emergencies, and asks whether private landlords should have to provide alternative accommodation.

No commencement date has been set. The consultation says the earliest feasible start is 2027, because regulations can only follow it, and asks whether it should start in phases. The government’s implementation roadmap also lists it as to be confirmed. Until then, private renters rely on the repair and fitness duties, the council and the courts above.

Where this comes from

On legislation.gov.uk: section 11, section 9A and section 10 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) Regulations 2025. On GOV.UK: private renting repairs, the fitness for human habitation guide for tenants, the HHSRS tenant guide, the £7,000 fines announcement, Awaab’s Law Phase 1 and Phase 2 guidance for social landlords, Awaab’s Law guidance for social tenants, the original social housing consultation, the private rented consultation and its announcement, and the Renters’ Rights Act roadmap. From Shelter: damp and mould in private rented homes, reporting repairs, withholding rent, compensation, revenge eviction and Shelter Legal on damp and mould. From Citizens Advice: damp in your rented home.

This guide covers common private tenancies in England and is general information, not legal advice. Different rules apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to lodgers, social housing and some specialist accommodation. RenterCheck is independent and not connected with the government.