How long does a landlord have to fix damp?

The honest answer: it depends who your landlord is

There isn’t one number that fits every tenancy, and any site that gives you a single “X days” figure for private renting is oversimplifying. The deadline depends on who your landlord is and how serious the hazard is.

• If you rent from a council or housing association, strict legal deadlines now apply (Awaab’s Law).
• If you rent from a private landlord, there’s no fixed statutory deadline yet — the standard is a “reasonable time.”

Social housing: the Awaab’s Law deadlines

Since 27 October 2025, social landlords must work to fixed timescales once they know about a hazard:

• Investigate significant damp and mould within 10 working days.
• Give you a written summary of the findings within 3 working days of finishing that investigation.
• Begin work to make the home safe within 5 working days.
• Emergency hazards: made safe within 24 hours.

If you’re a social tenant in Croydon and your landlord misses these, that’s a breach you can raise — first with the landlord, then with the Housing Ombudsman.

Private renting: what “reasonable time” really means

For private landlords the duty is to repair within a reasonable time of being notified. “Reasonable” is not vague hand-waving — it’s measured against the seriousness of the hazard:

• Serious mould affecting a baby, an asthma or COPD sufferer, or an elderly person → think days, and emergencies (like sewage or a major leak) → effectively immediately.
• Moderate, spreading damp → a few weeks to investigate and carry out repairs is often reasonable.
• Months of nothing after a clear report → almost never reasonable, and a strong basis to escalate.

A useful rule of thumb: many tenant advisers treat around 14 days as a fair window to at least investigate and respond to a non-emergency damp report, with the actual repair following promptly after.

The clock starts when you tell them — so tell them properly

Whichever type of landlord you have, the timer effectively starts when they become aware of the problem. That’s why reporting in writing is so important: an email or letter creates a dated record of when the landlord knew, which is exactly what “reasonable time” is measured against. A phone call leaves no proof. See our guide on how to report damp to your landlord.

Croydon-specific note

Croydon Council’s environmental health team can step in for private and social tenants where damp is a serious hazard and the landlord is dragging their feet. If a reasonable time has passed with no meaningful action, an inspection under the HHSRS can result in an enforcement notice with its own deadline — which puts a hard date on a problem that was drifting.

For landlords: don’t let the clock run

The simplest way to stay on the right side of “reasonable time” is to respond fast and document it: acknowledge the report, get the cause properly diagnosed, and start the fix. A prompt, surveyor-backed response not only meets your duty — it’s far cheaper than a council enforcement notice or a disrepair claim later, and it’s the standard the whole sector is moving toward.