Citizens Advice: What to do if your rented property has mould

As the weather has turned colder, I’ve noticed mould and damp in our flat. It’s mainly in our bedroom, including some black mould on the carpet. I’ve been chasing our letting agency, who say they’ll speak to our landlord. I’m really worried about how this might affect our health. Our tenancy agreement isn’t up for eight months, what can I do?

Kirklees Citizens Advice & Law Centre chief executive Nick Whittingham writes: It’s good that you’ve already raised the issue with your letting agency. Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy to work out the cause of mould or damp. This can make it difficult to work out if your landlord is responsible, unless there’s an obvious cause, like a leaking roof.

There are many causes of damp that properties can get.

The most common are rising, penetrating, construction, and condensation damp.

On the Citizens Advice website http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk there is information that may help you work out what type of damp you have, who is responsible and what you can do.

Check your tenancy agreement too for mentions of repairs and damp and reach out to us on anything you’re unsure about.

A landlord will have to act in relation to damp if it makes the property unsafe for someone to live in.

This could be for example, if it is making the tenant or a member of their family ill.

The landlord will also be responsible if the damp is related to repairs they should have carried out, like if heaters are broken.

If the damp has damaged items that the landlord is responsible for, such as carpets and window frames, they’ll likely have to cover the cost of repairs.

One of the most common causes of damp is condensation.

To prevent this, it’s important to keep homes well-heated and well-ventilated, but for a lot of people this will be trickier to do given the colder weather and higher heating costs.

You may be eligible for help to insulate and heat your home, and you can find out more on the KCALC website http://www.kcalc.org.uk

If your landlord is responsible for the damp in your property but doesn’t act, there are steps you can take, such as reporting them to the local authority.

If you’re in social housing, you might also be able to use the landlord’s formal complaints procedure.

If it reaches the point where you want to get out of a fixed term tenancy agreement early, do speak to an adviser first, as there might be better ways to approach the issue.

It can be difficult to approach your landlord or local council, but we are here to help you.

If you have a problem and you’re not sure what to do or where to go, give us a call on 0808 278 7896 or visit one of our Dewsbury or Huddersfield Contact Centres (more information can be found on our website).

We help thousands of people each year, with issues such as employment, asylum, debt, benefits and more.

See our website at http://www.kcalc.org.uk for more information about our range of services.