Is my landlord responsible for condensation and mould?

Why condensation is the contested one

Of the three damp types, condensation is where the “whose fault is it?” argument lives. Penetrating and rising damp are clearly building problems. Condensation involves both the building (how cold the surfaces are and how well it ventilates) and how the home is used (cooking, showering, drying clothes, breathing). That overlap is exactly why some landlords reach for “it’s your lifestyle.”

We’ll give you the honest version rather than the convenient one: condensation is usually a shared cause, but the legal responsibility to provide a home that can be kept free of damp still sits with the landlord.

When it’s the landlord’s responsibility

It’s the landlord’s to remedy when a reasonable household couldn’t keep the home condensation-free because of the building, for example:

• No working extractor fans in the kitchen or bathroom (or they’re so loud/broken nobody uses them).
• Cold, uninsulated solid walls — extremely common in Croydon’s older terraces — that the warm, moist air condenses on.
• No trickle vents and windows that don’t open properly.
• Single glazing or cold spots (“thermal bridges”) where mould blooms in the same corners every winter.

In these cases the fix — better ventilation, insulation, sometimes positive-input ventilation — is the landlord’s to make under their duty to provide a home that is fit to live in (Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018).

When the tenant genuinely shares it

To be fair and accurate: if a home does have working fans, openable ventilated windows and reasonably warm walls, and mould still appears because the household never ventilates, dries large amounts of washing on radiators with windows shut, and blocks all airflow — then the tenant’s behaviour is a real contributor, and a landlord can reasonably ask them to ventilate.

Even then, the landlord can’t just walk away from serious mould; but your own steps matter.

What you can do (and why it helps your case)

Doing your part doesn’t weaken your position — it strengthens it, because it shows the recurrence isn’t down to you:

• Ventilate: open windows daily, use extractor fans, keep trickle vents open.
• Wipe condensation off windows and sills in the morning.
• Don’t push furniture flush against cold external walls — leave a gap so air moves.
• Report it in writing early, and keep dated photos showing it comes back despite your efforts.

That last point is the key one. A tenant who has clearly ventilated and still gets mould every winter has strong evidence that the building is the cause.

A Croydon example

A converted flat in a Victorian house in Selhurst with solid brick walls, a painted-over old extractor that doesn’t work, and single-glazed sash windows will grow black mould in the cold corners of the bedroom no matter how careful the tenant is. That’s a building problem, and remedying it — proper extraction and insulation — is the landlord’s job. If that’s your situation, you’re very likely in the right.

Not sure which type of damp you have?

Condensation, penetrating damp and rising damp look similar but need completely different fixes. Our guide explains how to tell rising, penetrating and condensation damp apart. If it’s still unclear, that’s exactly what a damp inspection settles — and it’s the landlord who should arrange one.