Living with Damp: How to Treat and Avoid the Issue

Darren Bagnall from Flat Living Insurance provides guidance on how to treat and avoid the issue of damp.

Living in a flat that is affected by damp and mould can be truly miserable. It can aggravate asthma and other respiratory illnesses, ruin furniture and belongings and damage interiors. But as damp can be caused by many different factors, it can be hard to pinpoint who is responsible for dealing with it. It can also be very difficult to find the cause of stubborn cases without genuine help from the freeholder.

Here we’ll be explaining what can cause damp, how to avoid it and what your freeholder should be doing to help if the issue is structural.

Different Kinds of Damp

The 3 most common types of damp experienced in the UK are:

• Rising
• Penetrating
• Condensation

Rising damp is caused by moisture working its way up through the walls of the building from the ground below it. This is a relatively rare form of damp, as most modern homes are built with a Damp-Proof Course in place to prevent it. In buildings built 100 years ago or earlier, the issue is usually caused by a faulty or missing Damp-Proof Course. In more modern buildings it’s often caused by adjoining structures that suffer from rising damp introducing moisture to the building above the Damp-Proof Course.

Penetrating damp is caused by water making its way into a building, usually due to damage or disrepair on the exterior. Most commonly its caused by bad design or by blocked gutters and downpipes. It can also be caused by minor leaks in pipes going unnoticed for a long time.

Rising and Penetrating damp will need to be treated by your freeholder. A damp-proof course is required for rising damp issues and damaged exteriors should be repaired to solve penetrating damp.

Condensation dampness is the most common issue in flats. It occurs when warm, moist air touches cooler surfaces such as walls, mirrors and windows. Condensation can be tricky to solve as it can be put down to the ventilation, heating or insulation of the building, as well as the behaviour of the occupant.

Causes of Condensation

Most condensation can be avoided or minimised by the occupant of a flat. It’s amazing how many activities can contribute to dampness.

This list includes:

• Showers
• Baths
• Drying clothes
• Fish tanks
• Boiling kettles
• Boiling water for cooking
• People breathing!

All the above add moisture to the air in your flat and, without taking appropriate countermeasures, that moisture can build up and condensate on cool surfaces. Those without central heating or who can’t afford to use their central heating appropriately will almost invariably suffer from condensation damp.

Sometimes, the building itself is also to blame. If the block’s heating systems, ventilation and/or insulation isn’t up to scratch, issues with condensation can be exacerbated. Poor insulation and ineffective heating lead to cold walls for moisture to condensate on. Lack of ventilation leaves nowhere for the moisture to escape, and too much ventilation can make the building difficult to heat.

How to Contend with Condensation

Firstly, you’ll need to tick all the boxes for minimising damp-causing behaviours:

• Make sure you’re ventilating the property by opening windows as much as you can
• Utilise any extractor fans in bathrooms and kitchens, keeping them on for about half an hour after a bath/shower/cooking
• Dry clothes outside wherever possible
• If you have a large fish tank, consider removing it
• Use a dehumidifier in affected rooms
• Move furniture a few centimetres away from the walls to allow air to circulate
• If possible, keep the temperature at around 18 degrees Celsius
• Keep a diary of changes and take lots of photos of the issue before and during your efforts

If you’ve followed those steps for a few weeks and haven’t seen an improvement or a slowdown in mould growth, the issues may well be structural. At this point you’ll need to speak to your freeholder.

Providing them with your photos and diary of changes made as well as details of any fellow occupants who are experiencing the same issues may go a long way to convincing them that the issue falls within their remit.

Your Freeholder’s Responsibilities

Firstly, they may need to install or upgrade the existing extractor fans in the property. Secondly, they will need to instruct a specialist to confirm the cause of the issues before making an action plan based on their recommendations.

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 11 states that the freeholder is responsible for maintaining the exterior and structure of the building in good repair. If damp is being caused by disrepair, it’s definitely down to them to fix it. If the issue is caused but the design of the building then, in England and Wales, they don’t have a responsibility to put it right. It works differently in Scotland, where landlords are expected to ensure the property is wind and watertight at the start of the tenancy and throughout.

But it’s not just the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 that holds freeholders accountable, they must also abide by the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018. This states that the landlord must ensure the flat is “suitable for human habitation”, meaning that is the issue is currently or is likely to make you ill then they must step in.

Mould and damp is also listed as a potential hazard that landlords must address in the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, introduced under the Housing Act 2004.

Flat Living Insurance provides specialist insurance policies for blocks of flats and apartments. For more information or a quote, please contact a member of the Flat Living Insurance team on 0333 577 2044.