Damp or mould in a rented home in England
Know your landlord's duty.
Then put it in writing.
Since 27 October 2025, social landlords in England have faced strict Awaab's Law deadlines for damp and mould. Private landlords have different, older duties that most tenants have never heard of. This free tool works out what you are looking at, tells you exactly which rules apply to your landlord, and writes the letter that puts it on record.
Step one
What are you actually looking at?
Damp gets treated as one problem. It is at least four, and they have different causes, different fixes and different people responsible. Answer these and we will tell you which is most likely.
Step two
Which duties apply to your landlord.
England has two different regimes depending on who you rent from. Pick the one that matches your situation.
Investigate — 10 working days
From the moment your landlord is made aware the property may be affected by a significant damp or mould hazard.
Written summary — +3 working days
Setting out what the investigation found, within 3 working days of it concluding.
Safety works start — +5 working days
Where the investigation finds work is needed to make the property safe.
Emergency hazard — 24 hours
If the hazard poses an imminent risk to health, your landlord must investigate and make the property safe within 24 hours — and if they cannot, they must offer you suitable alternative accommodation at their own expense.
This is Awaab's Law, in force for social landlords since 27 October 2025. Its scope is expanding to cover more hazard types — excess cold, electrical and fire safety, structural defects — from November 2026, on the same timescales.
No fixed statutory clock
Unlike social housing, there is currently no Awaab's Law-style deadline for private landlords in England. Your protection comes from different, older law.
Repairing obligation — ongoing
Under Section 11, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 your landlord must keep the structure and exterior, and the installations for water, gas, electricity and heating, in repair and proper working order.
Fit for human habitation — ongoing
Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 the property must be fit to live in throughout your tenancy. Damp and mould serious enough to affect health can make it unfit — and unlike section 11, you can take this straight to court yourself.
A reasonable benchmark — 14 days
There is no statutory figure, but asking for an inspection within 14 days of your written report is a fair, defensible request that puts a date on record.
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 contains a power to extend Awaab's Law-style deadlines to private renting, but the regulations have not been made and no date is confirmed. It has, however, already abolished Section 21 “no-fault” eviction — the main tool historically used against tenants who complained.
Step three
Put it in writing, with a date on it.
This is the single most useful thing you can do. A dated written report is what starts the clock, what proves when it started, and what the Housing Ombudsman, your council or a court will want to see if it goes that far. Fill this in and copy it into an email.
If nothing happens
What you can actually do about it.
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Chase in writing, once
Reply to your own email so the thread has the original date in it. State which deadline or reasonable timescale has passed and ask them to confirm a date. Keep it short and unemotional — this becomes evidence.
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Get free advice
Shelter and Citizens Advice both give free, independent housing advice and can tell you how strong your position is before you spend anything. Neither charges, and neither is trying to sell you a survey.
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Your council's Environmental Health team
They can inspect under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System and serve an Improvement Notice forcing your landlord to act. This route is free and applies whoever you rent from.
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Ombudsman or the courts
Social tenants: exhaust your landlord's formal complaints process, then go to the Housing Ombudsman — free, and independent. Private tenants: you can bring a disrepair claim, or sue directly for breach of the fitness-for-human-habitation duty, in the county court. Get advice from Shelter or Citizens Advice before starting anything.
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 has abolished Section 21 “no-fault” eviction, which was the main tool used against tenants who reported problems. Landlords can still seek possession on specified grounds, so this is not a complete shield — but the blanket no-reason route that made complaining feel risky is gone.
The rules, in plain English
What the law actually says.
Only if you are a social housing tenant, renting from a council or housing association. Awaab's Law has applied to social landlords in England since 27 October 2025, and its scope is expanding to more hazard types from November 2026. It does not currently bind private landlords — the Renters' Rights Act 2025 contains a power to extend it, but no regulations have been made and no date is confirmed.
Investigate a significant hazard within 10 working days of being made aware, give you a written summary within 3 working days of the investigation concluding, and begin any necessary safety works within 5 working days. Where the hazard poses an imminent risk to health, they must investigate and make the property safe within 24 hours, offering suitable alternative accommodation at their own expense if they cannot.
Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires your landlord to keep the structure, exterior and installations in repair. The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 goes further — the property must be fit to live in, and if it is not because of damp or mould affecting health, you can sue directly in the county court without needing your council to act first. There is no fixed statutory clock, but 14 days is a reasonable benchmark to put in a letter.
Your local authority assesses housing hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, treating damp and mould growth as a hazard in its own right under the Housing Act 2004. Severity is judged partly on who is exposed — a household with a baby, an older person or someone with asthma or COPD scores higher. Where a hazard is serious enough (Category 1), the council must take action; for lower-risk hazards (Category 2) it has a discretionary power to. This route applies whoever you rent from, and costs you nothing.
Often, yes — “you're drying washing indoors” is the standard reply. Sometimes lifestyle genuinely is a factor. But condensation and mould are also caused by cold bridging, missing or broken extract ventilation, windows that will not open, poor insulation and heating too expensive to run — and those sit on the landlord's side of the line, whether under Awaab's Law or the fitness-for-habitation duty.
Housing is devolved, so all three nations now run different systems. England's Awaab's Law binds social landlords only, with a private-sector extension expected but not yet in force. Scotland's Investigation and Commencement of Repair Regulations start on 6 October 2026 and are the only one of the three with fixed timescales that cover private landlords too. Wales set fixed timescales for social landlords under the Welsh Housing Quality Standard from April 2026, and relies on a continuous fitness duty — with a rent sanction — for everyone else.
It is written to help you understand your position and is correct as far as we know at the date below. It is not a substitute for advice on your own circumstances. Check the current legislation at legislation.gov.uk, or speak to Shelter, Citizens Advice or a solicitor.
LAST REVIEWED — 2 SEPTEMBER 2026 · ENGLAND ONLY — the rules in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are different
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