Damp and mould claims

The different types of damp, and how to tell them apart

Damp is not one problem. Working out which type you are dealing with matters because each points to a different cause — and the cause is what decides who has to fix it. You do not need to diagnose it perfectly yourself, but describing what you can see accurately when you report it helps enormously.

Penetrating damp

Penetrating damp is water getting in from outside through a specific fault. It usually shows as an isolated patch rather than a general problem across the whole room, and it often sits near whatever is failing — under a window, beside a chimney breast, on the wall behind a blocked or leaking gutter, or on a ceiling below a slipped roof tile. Classic signs are a patch that darkens noticeably after heavy rain and dries a little in between, staining or a tide-shaped ring around the edge of the patch, blown or bubbling plaster, and wallpaper lifting in one area only.

Rising damp

Rising damp is moisture drawn up from the ground through the structure, and it is far less common than it is blamed for. The tell-tale sign is that it stays low: a tide mark on the wall roughly up to a metre or so above the skirting, running along the length of the wall rather than in one spot, with damage concentrated at the bottom. You may see salt deposits like a white powdery bloom on the plaster, skirting boards or floorboards that are soft or rotting, and paint or paper peeling from the bottom upwards. It normally means a damp-proof course is missing, failed, bridged by raised ground or a render coat, or that a solid floor has no membrane.

Condensation damp

Condensation happens when warm, moist air meets a cold surface and the moisture drops out of the air onto it. It is the most common form of damp in homes, and its signature is different: instead of one wet patch it appears on the coldest surfaces around the room. Look for water running down windows and pooling on the sills, damp in the corners of external walls and behind furniture pushed against them, black spotting around window reveals and in the top corners of rooms, a musty smell, and problems that are worst in winter and in bathrooms, kitchens and bedrooms.

Mould growth

Mould is the consequence rather than the cause. It grows where a surface stays damp for long enough, so it commonly follows condensation but appears with penetrating and rising damp too. It typically shows as black, green or grey spotting or patches, often on cold external walls, around window frames, in corners, behind wardrobes and on ceilings, and it can appear on soft goods such as curtains, mattresses, clothes stored in a wardrobe and leather items. If mould keeps returning after being cleaned off, that is a strong sign the underlying moisture problem has never been dealt with.

When is damp and mould the landlord’s responsibility?

Broadly, where damp is caused by something the landlord has a duty to keep in repair, or by the home not being fit to live in, putting it right is their job. In England and Wales that duty comes mainly from section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which covers the structure and exterior and the installations for water, heating and sanitation, and from the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018.

Defects that commonly cause damp

• Roof defects — slipped or missing tiles, failed flashing around chimneys and valleys, a worn flat roof covering.
• Guttering and drainage — blocked, cracked, leaking or overflowing gutters and downpipes soaking an external wall.
• Brickwork and render — perished pointing, cracked render, spalled bricks, or ground level raised above the damp-proof course.
• Windows and doors — perished seals, rotten frames, failed sealant, and vents that have been sealed shut or painted over.
• Plumbing leaks — a slow leak under a bath, a weeping waste pipe, a failed shower tray seal, or a leak from the flat above.
• A failed, bridged or missing damp-proof course, or a solid floor without a damp-proof membrane.
• Ventilation — no extractor fan in a bathroom or kitchen, or one that is broken, disconnected, blocked or plainly not powerful enough for the room.
• Insulation and cold bridging — uninsulated solid walls, cold spots at lintels and around window reveals, and failed or slumped cavity wall insulation, all of which create the cold surfaces condensation forms on.
• Heating — a broken boiler or heating system, so the home cannot be kept warm enough to keep surfaces above the temperature at which moisture condenses on them.

Some causes are not disrepair — for example genuine accidental damage by the household, or a problem the landlord has never been told about. That is why the cause, and the record of what you reported and when, tend to be the two things that decide how an enquiry is viewed.

“It’s just condensation — it’s your lifestyle”

This is one of the most common responses tenants get, and it is worth understanding fairly. It is true that everyday living produces moisture: cooking, showering, drying washing indoors and simply breathing all add water to the air. Where a home is well built, adequately ventilated and can be heated properly, ordinary use of the home should not produce persistent mould.

What is not correct is treating the word “condensation” as the end of the conversation. Condensation can still be the landlord’s responsibility where it is caused or made significantly worse by a defect or by the state of the property — for example there is no working extractor fan, the trickle vents are missing or painted shut, the walls are cold and uninsulated so moisture settles on them, the windows are single glazed and failing, or the heating does not work so the home cannot realistically be kept warm. Being unable to afford to heat a poorly insulated home is also not the same thing as choosing not to.

The practical answer is not to argue about labels but to put on record what you have actually done. If you can show you have been ventilating and heating the home as far as you reasonably can and the problem persists, the explanation has to lie somewhere else.

What to record if you get this response

• Whether there is an extractor fan in the bathroom and kitchen, whether it works, and whether it clears the steam.
• Whether windows have trickle vents, and whether they open, are blocked or have been painted over.
• That you open windows and use any fans — note roughly when and for how long.
• How you heat the home, which rooms you can heat, and any rooms that never get warm.
• Any periods the heating or hot water was broken, and when you reported it.
• Whether you dry washing indoors, and whether there is anywhere else you realistically could.
• Photographs of cold spots, streaming windows and mould returning after you have cleaned it off.

Health and safety — handled carefully

Damp and mould in the home is recognised as a serious housing hazard, and it can affect respiratory health. Government and NHS guidance treat persistent damp and mould as something that should be found and fixed rather than lived with, and it is one of the hazards councils can assess in rented homes.

We cannot and do not give medical advice, and nothing here says anything about your health or anyone else’s. If you are worried about how damp or mould in your home may be affecting you or someone in your household — particularly babies and young children, older people, or anyone with asthma or another respiratory or immune condition — speak to your GP, or use NHS 111 if you need advice sooner. If a health professional makes a note of your concerns, keep a copy of any letter you are given.

Reporting damp and mould properly

A landlord generally has to know about a problem before they can be expected to fix it, and a reasonable time to do so. That makes the report itself important. Put it in writing even if you have already phoned — an email, the landlord’s repairs portal or a letter — and keep a copy of what you sent and when.

What to include in the report

• Which rooms are affected, and exactly where in each room the damp or mould appears.
• When you first noticed it and whether it is getting worse.
• What it looks like — a wet patch, a tide mark low on the wall, black spotting around the windows.
• Whether it changes with the weather, such as worsening after heavy rain.
• Anything you suspect is causing it, such as an overflowing gutter or a fan that does not work.
• What you have already done to ventilate and heat the property.
• Any belongings that have been damaged, and any rooms you cannot properly use.
• That anyone in the household is elderly, very young, pregnant or has a health condition — without needing to go into detail you are not comfortable sharing.

What to ask for

• An inspection of the property by someone competent to identify the cause.
• To be told in writing what they find the cause to be.
• Repair of that underlying cause — not only a mould wash, a stain-block coat or fresh paint.
• Making good afterwards, including replastering where plaster has blown.
• A repair reference number and a date by which the work will be done.
• A copy of any survey, damp report or contractor’s notes.

If nothing happens, use the landlord’s formal complaints procedure and ask for a written response. Our page on reporting repairs to your landlord sets out how to word each stage, and if requests are simply being ignored there is a separate page on what to do when a landlord ignores repair requests.

Evidence that matters for damp and mould

Damp cases are usually won or lost on the record of what the property was like and what the landlord was told. The single most valuable thing you can do is photograph the same spots repeatedly over time, because a sequence of dated images shows both the severity and the fact that nothing changed after you reported it. Our evidence guide covers how to gather and organise all of this in detail.

What to collect

• Dated photographs and short videos of each affected area, retaken every few weeks and after heavy rain.
• Wide shots that show which room and which wall, as well as close-ups of the mould or staining.
• Photographs of the suspected external cause where it is safe to take them from the ground — an overflowing gutter, cracked render, a slipped tile.
• Any readings you happen to have, such as from a damp meter or a humidity monitor, noting the date, the room and where you took them.
• The full paper trail: your reports, repair reference numbers, appointment letters, complaint correspondence and any inspection or survey reports.
• Damaged belongings — photograph clothing, bedding, furniture, carpets and electricals before disposing of anything, and keep receipts where you have them.
• Notes on rooms you have stopped using, or where a child has had to be moved to sleep.

Awaab’s Law and social landlords in England

In England, Awaab’s Law introduces set timescales requiring social landlords — councils and housing associations — to investigate and address serious damp and mould hazards in their properties, rather than leaving them outstanding indefinitely. It is aimed at social housing, and the requirements are being brought in in stages, so what applies depends on the type of hazard and the date.

If you are a social tenant, this makes the date you first reported the problem particularly worth pinning down. We cover the Awaab’s Law timescales and how to use them.

If you rent in Wales

Renting in Wales works differently. Occupation contracts are governed by the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, which sets out the landlord’s obligations to keep the dwelling in repair and fit for human habitation, including specific matters that must be considered when judging fitness. The practical points on this page — identifying the type of damp, reporting in writing, asking for the cause to be found — apply just the same, but the legal framework and the escalation routes differ.

See our page on housing disrepair claims in Wales for how it works there.

Free routes to try alongside a claim

Complaints, the Ombudsman and your council

A legal claim is not the only route, and it is rarely the first one. Start with the landlord’s own complaints procedure and put everything in writing. If you rent from a council or housing association in England and the complaint is exhausted, you can escalate to the Housing Ombudsman. For serious hazards in any rented home, your local council’s Environmental Health team can inspect the property and has powers to act on hazards it finds.

Free, independent advice is also available from Shelter and Citizens Advice, and using these routes does not stop you from getting an enquiry reviewed later. Our free help options page lists them.

How RemedyBridge fits in

RemedyBridge is not a law firm and does not give legal advice or medical advice. We offer a free online assessment, a review of your enquiry by a person rather than a machine, and — only with your permission — an introduction to an independent solicitor who can advise you properly on whether you have a claim.

We cannot tell you whether you will succeed, and we never quote what a case might be worth. What we can do is help you set out clearly what has happened, what you reported and when, and pass that to someone qualified to assess it.

Where to go next

If you want a step-by-step walkthrough of dealing with damp and mould in a rented home — what to do first, how to word the report, what to do while you wait — read the practical guide to damp and mould in a rented home. This page explains the subject and your position; the guide walks you through the actions.