Reporting poor housing standards
All landlords have certain obligations to make sure your property is kept in reasonable repair, is in a safe condition and complies to the relevant housing legislation. This legislation differs depending on how the property is occupied and for houses in multiple occupation, which is more prescriptive than those properties occupied by single families.
Reporting poor housing conditions
If you live in a council-owned home and you're worried about damp or mould in your property, then please report it to us using the contact details in the 'How to report' section below.
If you live in a private rented or housing association property and it’s in disrepair, and you’re struggling with your landlord or letting agent to get the repairs carried out, we may be able to help you.
Where possible, or where it is required, verification checks will be made. We would then write to your landlord or letting agent informing them we have received a complaint about their property and raise the issues with them. We would give them 14 days to reply to our letter and to provide details of what works they are intending to carry out.
If we do not receive a response or it is felt the response will not satisfactorily address the complaint, an inspection and assessment in accordance with part 1 of the Housing Act 2004, Housing Health and Safety Rating Systems, will be carried out.
The outcome of this assessment will then determine whether further action against the landlord is appropriate. The landlord will be informed of their repair obligations and if they still fail to carry out works, a statutory notice may be served.
How to report
If you live in a council-owned home and you're worried about damp or mould in your property, you can call us on 0800 028 1870 Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm, Friday 9am to 4:30pm, or email bcphousingadvice@bcpcouncil.gov.uk and report any issues with damp and mould.
We will then visit, survey and following the findings of the survey, take appropriate action as needed.
If you live in a private rented or housing association property, we suggest that you put your disrepair issues in writing to your landlord or letting agent. Allow a minimum of 14 days. If you do not receive a response, or the response is unsatisfactory, you can complain to us.
When you have written to your landlord or letting agent, make sure you keep a copy of the letter. This will help to protect you should your landlord retaliate by serving you with a notice when the repairs are significant enough to warrant enforcement action. This is covered in the Deregulation Act 2015 and applied from 1 October 2015.
Complete the online property disrepair complaints form.
Please note this service has a privacy notice.
Accommodation standards
Private rented accommodation should meet the minimum standards of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System.
Read our Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy.
Properties must meet all the requirements explained in the Housing Act (2004), Environmental Protection Act (1990), Landlord and Tenant (Covenant) Act (1995) and planning permission and building regulations.
The Housing Ombudsman
If you are a council or housing association tenant and you are unhappy with your landlords response to your concerns about damp and mould then you can use their formal complaints procedure to have these investigated. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome then you can complain to the Housing Ombudsman here.
The Redress Schemes for Lettings Agency Work and Property Management Work
All letting agents and property managers in England are legally required by The Redress Schemes for Lettings Agency Work and Property Management Work (Requirement to Belong to a Scheme etc) (England) Order 2014 to join one of three government-approved schemes:
This means that you complain to an independent person about the bad service, and this prevent disputes from getting worse.
If you’re in a dispute with your landlord, email details to privatesector.housing@bcpcouncil.gov.uk and we'll help you and advise you of your rights.