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This report addresses the growing crisis of mould in UK housing and the government's failure to distinguish between damp and mould. Damp is a structural defect in the building fabric and rightly a landlord's responsibility. Mould, however, is a biological growth caused by high relative humidity and condensation, almost always the result of how the indoor climate is managed. By conflating these two issues, government, courts, and inspectors have created a system of misplaced blame, unfair costs, and ineffective policy.
The turning point was the Awaab case in Rochdale, where a child tragically died in a property with serious defects and landlord neglect. Instead of drawing the specific lesson - that landlords must act on genuine damp - ministers and courts seized on the phrase "mould is not a lifestyle issue" and applied it universally. This has entrenched the presumption that any mould is automatically landlord fault, even in sound, compliant homes.
The science is clear: every household generates 10-15 litres of water vapour daily. Without ventilation and steady heating, this vapour condenses on cold surfaces, enabling mould to colonise. Vulnerable households - the elderly, families with children, and those in overcrowded homes - are most likely to create these conditions, due to low incomes, high occupancy, and habits such as sealing vents, drying laundry indoors, and avoiding extractor fans. These are not matters of negligence, but of management under social and economic pressure.
Yet current practice treats visible mould as landlord liability. Inspectors issue notices without testing, landlords are forced into costly and unnecessary works, and tenants remain uneducated. The costs are grossly asymmetric: tenants may save £100-£200 annually by cutting heating and ventilation, while landlords can lose £5,000-£15,000 per case. Meanwhile, the damp-proofing industry profits from unnecessary treatments.
This injustice sits within a wider pattern. Successive governments have imposed punitive taxation, compliance, and regulation, culminating in the Renters Rights Bill. This Bill, while presented as protecting tenants, effectively strips landlords of rights and risks driving them out of the market. Supply is shrinking, demand is rising, and rents are increasing - hurting tenants most.
The report calls for urgent policy correction: clarify the distinction between damp and mould, end the presumption of landlord fault, rebalance costs and taxation, reverse counterproductive legislation, and launch a national public-health education campaign on condensation and ventilation. The principle is clear: landlords are responsible for the building, tenants for the air inside it, and government for clarity, fairness, and education.
