Damp, mould and disrepair in social homes: how tenants can get repairs done at no cost

Condensation streaking down the windows, black spots creeping across the bedroom wall, a persistent musty smell that no amount of scrubbing shifts. For many social housing tenants, the instinct is to reach for the supermarket and try to solve it themselves — or to assume that a proper repair will cost money they simply do not have. Yet guidance highlighted by Money Saving Expert makes a point that far too many renters still miss: when it comes to damp, mould and building repairs in social housing, the work can be sorted out for free.

That word — free — is not a generous gesture from councils and housing associations. It reflects the basic bargain at the heart of social renting. Tenants pay rent on the understanding that the property is maintained to a decent standard, and the responsibility for keeping the structure sound sits with the landlord, not the household living inside it. If the roof leaks, the gutters fail or damp takes hold because of a building defect, arranging and paying for the fix is the landlord's job.

Damp and mould deserve to be taken seriously well beyond their unsightly appearance. They are among the most common complaints in social housing, and they carry genuine health implications, particularly for children, older people and anyone with respiratory conditions. Just as importantly, mould on a wall is often a symptom rather than the disease itself: it can point to underlying problems such as leaks, failing damp-proofing or poor ventilation that only a proper, permanent repair will resolve. A tenant repainting over the stains is masking a building fault that their landlord should be addressing.

The practical lesson from the guidance is about process. Tenants who report problems promptly, and crucially in writing, give themselves a clear record of when the issue was raised and how the landlord responded. Photographs, dated messages and notes of phone calls all help. Landlords should then be given the opportunity to inspect and carry out the work — and if they stall, dismiss the problem as lifestyle-related or simply fail to respond, tenants should not accept that as the end of the road.

That is where accountability comes in, and it is where the policy dimension of this story sits. Social landlords are not private businesses answerable only to their balance sheets; they are stewards of publicly supported homes, and there has been growing pressure on the sector to respond properly to disrepair. Tenants who are fobbed off can pursue their landlord's formal complaints procedure and, ultimately, escalate to independent redress. The principle is simple: a repair ignored is not a problem that disappears, and the costs of prolonged disrepair — health, wellbeing and trust in social landlords — far outweigh the repair bill.

For readers, the message cuts both ways. If you rent from a council or housing association, check what your landlord is responsible for before spending your own money on damp or structural problems, report issues early and keep everything documented — the repair you are entitled to should not cost you a penny. If you are a landlord or work in the sector, the reputational and regulatory risks of leaving damp and mould unaddressed have never been starker. In social housing, a free repair is not a favour. It is part of what the rent is for.