Landlords, agents, managing agents & housing associations
In Wales it depends
who the landlord is.
Social landlords have had fixed damp and mould timescales since 1 April 2026. Private landlords have no clock — but they carry a fitness duty that never switches off, and in Wales they are registered and licensed on top of it.
Social landlords
The WHQS timescales, in force since 1 April 2026.
The Welsh Housing Quality Standard was updated with effect from 1 April 2026 to set fixed timescales for hazards including damp and mould. It applies to councils and housing associations.
Social landlords must also publish their response times and report their performance to the Welsh Government.
- 24HOURS
Significant risk, harm likely imminent
Investigate within 24 hours of becoming aware, and remedy within a further 24 hours.
- 10WORKING DAYS
Significant risk, harm not imminent
Investigate within 10 working days, then remedy within a further 5 working days.
- 5WORKING DAYS
Where it cannot be completed in time
Give the contract-holder a written summary plan within 5 working days, setting out what will be done and when.
Private landlords
No clock. A duty that never stops.
The April 2026 timescales are for social landlords only. If you let privately in Wales, you are bound instead by the continuous fitness duty in the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016: the dwelling must be fit for human habitation at the start of the occupation contract and throughout it.
The practical difference is real. You are not "in breach on day eleven" the way a social landlord now is under the WHQS. You are in breach the whole time the dwelling is unfit — which is weaker in one way and considerably stronger in another.
Two consequences worth planning around. A contract-holder is not liable to pay rent for any day, or part day, that the dwelling is unfit for human habitation. And the Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022 list 29 matters and circumstances a court must have regard to in deciding fitness — damp and mould growth is the first of them.
Wales, England and Scotland compared
Three countries, three different regimes.
| Nation | Applies to | Investigate | Then | In force |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wales — WHQS | Social landlords | 10 working days 24 hrs if harm imminent | Remedy in 5 working days 24 hrs if harm imminent | 1 April 2026 |
| Wales — fitness duty | All landlords | No fixed timescale — the dwelling must be fit throughout the occupation contract | Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 | |
| England — Awaab's Law | Social landlords | 10 working days | Make safe in 5 working days | October 2025 |
| Scotland | Social and private | 10 working days | Written summary in 3, begin work in 5 | 6 October 2026 |
Scotland is the only one of the three to bring private landlords inside a fixed timescale. Wales is the only one where the contract-holder stops owing rent while the dwelling is unfit.
The practical problem
Ten working days is a diary problem, not a legal one.
Every social landlord in Wales is working to the same clock, and there is a finite number of PCA-qualified damp and timber surveyors in the country. The organisations with capacity in the autumn will be the ones that arranged it in the spring.
A named response window
A standing arrangement for landlords, agents and housing associations: an agreed response window for damp and mould investigations, a report format written to evidence the WHQS investigation duty, and a plain-English written summary you can pass straight to the contract-holder.
DampCheck Wales
We also build and run DampCheck Wales, a free tool that helps contract-holders identify what they are looking at and report it properly, in writing and dated. Pointing someone there early tends to produce a clearer report than a phone call does — which makes the investigation a good deal easier to scope.
The wider legal picture
What already applied
before April 2026.
The new timescales sit on top of duties that have been in force for years. Damp and mould were never optional in Wales.
Under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 every occupation contract includes a term that the landlord must ensure the dwelling is fit for human habitation, at the start of the contract and throughout it. The Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022 list 29 matters and circumstances a court must have regard to, and damp and mould growth is the first of them.
The duty cannot be contracted out of, cannot be charged to the contract-holder, and cannot be made their responsibility in the contract.
Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 · Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022
Something landlords in England and Scotland do not have in the same form. Every private landlord with property in Wales must be registered, and anyone carrying out letting or management work must be licensed. Licence holders are expected to comply with housing law, and Rent Smart Wales can take enforcement action against those who do not.
For a managing agent this matters twice over: the compliance sits on the licence, not just on the client relationship.
Housing (Wales) Act 2014, Part 1
Local authorities assess housing hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, which treats damp and mould growth as a hazard in its own right. Severity is judged partly on who is exposed, so a household including a young child, an older person or someone with asthma or COPD scores higher. Where the hazard is serious enough, the council can require the landlord to act.
Housing Act 2004, Part 1
The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 contains protection against retaliatory eviction. Where a landlord serves a no-fault notice because a contract-holder asked for repairs, a court may refuse to make a possession order. It is worth knowing on both sides of the relationship: a repair request handled properly is considerably cheaper than a contested possession claim.
Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016
For social landlords, a contract-holder exhausts the internal complaints process and then goes to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales — free and independent. For private landlords, a disrepair claim is brought in the county court, which can order works and award damages.
Note also that Wales follows the England and Wales limitation period: under the Limitation Act 1980 most contractual claims must be brought within six years, not the five that applies in Scotland.
Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2019 · Limitation Act 1980
Frequently — "they're drying washing indoors" is the standard first response, and sometimes lifestyle genuinely is a factor. But condensation and mould are also caused by cold solid-wall surfaces, missing or broken extract ventilation, windows that will not open, poor insulation and heating that costs too much to run. Those sit on the landlord's side of the line because they go to whether the dwelling is fit.
A survey that measures surface temperature and humidity settles the argument in writing, which is worth more to a landlord than winning it verbally.
This page summarises Welsh housing law as we understand it, to explain the survey work we do. It is not a substitute for advice on your own circumstances. Verify against the current legislation at legislation.gov.uk, or take independent advice.
LAST REVIEWED — 16 AUGUST 2026 · WALES ONLY — the rules in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland are different
Get ahead of it
Book the capacity before you need it.
Agreed rates, a named response window, and a report format built for the WHQS duty.