When there is a hole in your kitchen wall big enough for rats to enter, you expect your landlord to act quickly. This client did too. She reported it immediately. Her landlord did nothing – and that was only the beginning of the disrepair she was left to live with.
When a rented home has a persistent ceiling leak, the moisture has to go somewhere. In this case, it went into the walls and ceilings of the rooms where two children slept – creating the conditions for mould to grow and spread while their landlord looked the other way.
“I didn’t think it was serious enough.” It is one of the most common things we hear from tenants when they first get in touch with NJS Law. They have been living with damp, mould or leaks for months, reporting it time and again, being ignored – and yet they have convinced themselves that their situation does not rise to the level where they could do anything about it.
Mould in a rented property is never just a cosmetic problem, and it is never “just a bit of mould.” Left untreated, it spreads – and it spreads faster than most people realise. This case shows exactly what happens when a landlord is told about mould and simply does nothing.
Living in a home that your landlord has failed to maintain is not just inconvenient — it can be genuinely harmful to your health, your family’s wellbeing and your finances. For council and housing association tenants across England and Wales, housing disrepair claims provide a legal mechanism to force repairs to be carried out and to receive compensation for the impact of living in substandard conditions.
The UK Government has confirmed that Awaab’s Law will officially come into force on 27 October 2025.
The new rules will hold social landlords to strict deadlines when investigating and repairing damp and mould problems — giving tenants the legal protection they’ve long needed.
When pursuing a housing disrepair claim, it’s important to approach the process strategically to maximise your chances of success.
When renting a property, tenants have certain rights that are protected by law. One of these rights is the right to live in a safe and well-maintained home. However, sometimes landlords fail to maintain their properties, leading to disrepair and potentially hazardous living conditions for tenants. In such cases, tenants have two options: they can make a housing disrepair claim and/or file a complaint with the Housing Ombudsman, after the landlord’s internal complaints process has been exhausted.
Social housing landlords will have to investigate and fix damp and mould in their properties within strict new time limits, Housing Secretary Michael Gove announced Thursday 9 February.
