Is my landlord responsible for mould? Your rights as a tenant

Usually, yes. If damp or mould comes from a problem with the building, putting it right is your landlord’s job. Typical causes are a leaking roof or pipe, a broken extractor fan, missing insulation or a home that cannot be ventilated properly. That holds whether you rent from a council, a housing association or a private landlord.

What changes is which law applies, and with it how fast your landlord must act and where you can complain. So start by working out who your landlord is.

• I rent from a council or housing association
• I rent from a private landlord

Can my landlord blame condensation or my lifestyle?

Not as a starting point. The Government’s guidance for social landlords says:

“It is unacceptable for social landlords to assume that the cause of a hazard, such as damp and mould, is due to the tenant’s ‘lifestyle’.”

It goes on to say that everyday cooking, bathing, washing and drying laundry will add moisture to a home, and that these activities are unlikely to be a breach of the tenancy.

For any tenant, a home has to be fit to live in at the start of the tenancy and all the way through it. That duty is in section 9A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and freedom from damp is one of the things fitness is judged on. A home that grows mould from ordinary daily life may have a problem with the building.

The landlord is not responsible for everything, though:

• Under Awaab’s Law, a hazard the landlord would otherwise have to fix is excluded if it is wholly or mainly caused by the tenant breaking a term of the tenancy.
• Things you own yourself are not covered. Damage to your own furniture or appliances is not the landlord’s repair.

If you rent from a council or housing association

Awaab’s Law applies to you. Its formal name is the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/1042). Since 27 October 2025 it has set fixed deadlines for social landlords in England to deal with damp and mould. Once your landlord knows about the problem:

• Emergency: if the risk is one a reasonable landlord would make safe within 24 hours, it must investigate and make the home safe within 24 hours.
• Investigation: otherwise, within 10 working days, starting the day after it becomes aware. You can ask for someone to inspect the home in person.
• Written summary: within 3 working days of the investigation finishing, telling you what was found and what happens next.
• Safety work: if the mould is a significant hazard, the work to make the home safe must be done within 5 working days of the investigation finishing.
• Somewhere else to stay: if the home cannot be made safe in time, the landlord must offer suitable temporary accommodation at no cost to you.

Working days leave out weekends, bank holidays, Christmas Day and Good Friday. The deadline calculator works out each date from the day you reported the problem. The timescales guide has the full detail, including the preventative work that has to follow.

If you reported it before 27 October 2025

Report it again in writing now. The first report after that date starts the Awaab’s Law clock, even if you told your landlord years ago. Telling the landlord the problem has got worse, or that it is affecting your health more, also starts it. You do not need medical evidence. If it has come back after being treated, report that too.

Check your paperwork

Shared ownership homes are not covered. Temporary and supported accommodation is covered when it is let on a social housing tenancy, but not when it is let on a licence. Your agreement will say which you have.

Letting your landlord in

You have to let the landlord, or someone it authorises in writing, into the home to inspect and do the work. It must come at a reasonable time of day and give you at least 24 hours’ written notice. In an emergency, access can be agreed by phone.

If your landlord does not act

Use your landlord’s complaints procedure first, then take it to the Housing Ombudsman. You can also ask your council to inspect, or bring a claim in court. Your legal options explains each route. The compensation calculator uses the Housing Ombudsman’s published figures to estimate what a social landlord might pay.

The Tenant Action Pack (£9.99) has eleven letters for social tenants, from the first report through to the Ombudsman.

If you rent from a private landlord

Awaab’s Law does not apply to private renting yet. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 lets the Government extend it, but that needs a consultation and new regulations first, and no start date has been set. Until then, the Awaab’s Law deadlines and letters that cite them do not apply to a private tenancy. Our guide for private landlords sets out where that stands.

Your landlord still has legal duties for damp and mould:

• On most tenancies, section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 makes the landlord keep the structure and exterior in repair, along with the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation and heating. A leaking roof or a broken boiler is the landlord’s to fix.
• Section 9A applies to private tenancies too, so the home has to be fit for human habitation throughout the tenancy. Damp counts.
• Your council’s environmental health team can inspect the home and rate the damp and mould as a hazard. If it finds the most serious kind, a Category 1 hazard, it has a duty to act, for example by serving an improvement notice on the landlord.

There is no fixed number of days for a private landlord. Repairs have to be done within a reasonable time, and that time is shorter when the problem is serious. Report it in writing anyway, so the date you told your landlord is on record.

The Housing Ombudsman does not deal with private landlords. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 sets up a separate ombudsman for private renting, but it is not open yet. If you are worried about being asked to leave, section 21 “no-fault” evictions were abolished on 1 May 2026, so a landlord now needs a legal ground to end a tenancy. Citizens Advice and Shelter give free, independent advice.

The Tenant Action Pack is written for social tenants under Awaab’s Law. It is not designed for a private tenancy, so if you rent privately, start with the free letter below.

What to do now

1. Report it in writing. Email is fine, and the free sample letter works for any landlord.
2. Take dated photos, keep copies of everything you send and receive, and write down each call or visit, including any appointment that nobody turned up to.
3. Tell your landlord if a child, an older person or anyone with a health condition such as asthma lives with you.
4. If you rent from a council or housing association, put your report date into the deadline calculator.
5. If nothing happens, social tenants can use the Tenant Action Pack letters and the compensation calculator. Private tenants can go to the council’s environmental health team.

Common questions

Are you a landlord? Read damp and mould responsibilities for the duties in full.