Compliance
Damp and mould in a rental: whose responsibility is it, really?
4 min read
Few things in a tenancy generate more heat and less clarity than mould. Landlords see a tenant who never opens a window; tenants see a cold, poorly ventilated flat. Both can be partly right, because "damp" is not one problem — it is three, with three different causes and three different people responsible. Sorting out who owes what starts with naming which one you are actually looking at.
The three kinds of damp
- Penetrating damp — water getting in through a defect: a leaking roof, failed pointing, a cracked gutter, a bad seal around a window. This is a repair, and repairs to the structure and exterior are the landlord's responsibility.
- Rising damp — moisture drawn up from the ground where a damp-proof course is missing or has failed. Again a structural defect, and again the landlord's to fix.
- Condensation — warm, moist air meeting cold surfaces, producing the black spotting typical of bathrooms, corners and behind furniture. This is the contested one, because it sits between how the building performs and how it is being lived in.
Condensation is where most disputes live. If the tenant genuinely is not ventilating or heating the property, some responsibility may sit with them. But if the extractor fan doesn't work, the windows have no trickle vents, or there is no affordable way to heat the place, the building is the problem — and a tenant cannot be blamed for mould the property was always going to grow. Very often it is a mix, which is precisely why the cause has to be established rather than assumed.
What Awaab's Law changes
The rules here have tightened. Following the death of Awaab Ishak, Awaab's Law sets strict timescales for landlords to investigate and fix serious hazards like damp and mould once they are reported — and its reach is being extended to the private rented sector alongside a Decent Homes Standard for private lets. The direction of travel is unambiguous: a reported damp or mould hazard is something a landlord must act on promptly, not a matter to leave until the tenant moves out. Ignoring a report is now a compliance failure, not just a maintenance backlog.
You cannot charge a tenant for mould you can't prove they caused — and you can no longer sit on mould a tenant has reported. Both positions now need evidence.
Why this is an evidence problem
Because responsibility turns on cause, and cause turns on what can be shown, mould is really an evidence problem wearing a maintenance costume. Was there mould at check-in, or did it appear during the tenancy? Does the extractor fan work? Were trickle vents present? Was the issue reported, and when? A dated record that answers those questions protects a tenant from being charged for a building defect, and protects a landlord who acted properly from being accused of neglect. Without it, the argument is just two opinions.
This is exactly the kind of judgement InventorySafe is built to support: the presence and working state of extractors and vents recorded at check-in, any damp or mould captured on dated media with its location, and the condition carried forward so a check-out can show whether it appeared, spread or was dealt with. Liability for it stays a human decision — advisory at most from the system, and never a guess.
Common questions
- Is damp and mould the landlord's or the tenant's responsibility?
- It depends on the cause. Penetrating and rising damp are structural defects and are the landlord's responsibility to repair. Condensation-related mould can be shared: the landlord must provide a property that can be ventilated and heated (working extractors, trickle vents), while the tenant is expected to use it reasonably. Establishing which cause applies is the key step.
- What is Awaab's Law?
- Awaab's Law, introduced after the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak from mould exposure, requires landlords to investigate and address serious health hazards such as damp and mould within set timescales once they are reported. Its requirements are being extended to the private rented sector alongside a Decent Homes Standard.
- Can a landlord deduct from a deposit for mould?
- Only where there is evidence the tenant caused it — for example by never ventilating the property despite working extractors and vents — and it goes beyond fair wear and tear. If the mould stems from a building defect or inadequate ventilation, it is not a valid deposit deduction.
- What should a tenant do if they find mould?
- Report it to the landlord or agent in writing as soon as possible, with photos and the date. Prompt written notice both triggers the landlord's duty to act and protects the tenant from later being blamed for a problem they raised early.