How to stop condensation and black mould in a Midlands home (and when it's the landlord's job)

If you're seeing black spotty mould in the corners of a bedroom, around the windows, or behind a wardrobe on an external wall, the cause is almost certainly condensation — not rising damp. It's the most common damp problem we see across Birmingham, Solihull, Coventry and Wolverhampton, and a lot of it can be fixed without spending much at all. This guide, from the Property Edge damp team, runs from the free fixes up to the jobs worth paying for — and explains who's legally responsible if you rent.

First — is it actually condensation?

Condensation is warm, moist indoor air hitting a cold surface and dropping its moisture. The tells: black 'dotty' mould (not a brown stain), worst in winter, worst in the least-heated rooms, concentrated around windows, in corners, and behind furniture pushed against external walls. If instead you've got a horizontal tide mark in the bottom metre of a wall with white salt deposits, that's more likely rising damp — see our separate guide on how to spot rising damp. A localised patch high up near a roof or gutter is usually penetrating damp, which our roofing team deals with.

The free fixes (do these first)

• Open windows for 10–15 minutes after showering, bathing or drying clothes — short and sharp beats leaving a window 'on the vent' all day.
• Use the extractor fan in the kitchen and bathroom every time, and leave it running for 15 minutes after. If it doesn't pull a sheet of paper to the grille, it isn't working.
• Keep the kitchen and bathroom doors shut while cooking and washing, so the moisture doesn't spread to cold bedrooms.
• Don't dry washing on radiators. A single load of wet washing puts about two litres of water into the air. Dry it outside, or in a bathroom with the door shut and the fan on.
• Pull furniture 5cm off external walls so air can move behind it — the cold spot behind a bed or wardrobe is the classic mould trap.
• Keep a low background heat on in cold weather rather than short hot blasts — steady warmth keeps wall surfaces above the temperature where condensation forms.

The cheap kit that helps

• A cheap hygrometer (£6–£10) — aim to keep indoor humidity under about 60%. It takes the guesswork out of which rooms are the problem.
• A window vacuum or even a cloth to clear streaming windows each morning, so that water isn't re-evaporating into the room all day.
• Trickle vents on windows — if yours have them, keep them open. If your windows are old and don't, upgrading the units or windows usually cuts condensation dramatically.

The jobs that actually fix persistent condensation

If you've done the habits and it still comes back every winter, the house has a ventilation or cold-surface problem that needs a proper fix. The big three we fit across the Midlands:

• PIV (Positive Input Ventilation) — a quiet loft-mounted unit that gently pushes fresh, filtered air through the home and drives out the moist stale air. It's the single most effective fix for whole-home condensation and mould, from £680 supply and fit. See our damp proofing service.
• Upgraded extractor fans — humidity-sensing fans in the kitchen and bathroom that run automatically when moisture rises. Handled by our general repairs team.
• Window and glazing upgrades — replacing cold single glazing or failed misted units removes the coldest surface in the room. See windows & doors.
• Insulation and cold-spot treatment — addressing the cold patches on external walls where mould forms, often alongside a wider refurbishment.

Renting? Whose responsibility is it?

This is where it matters to be clear, because both sides have a part to play (and none of this is legal advice — it's a plain-English summary). Tenants are expected to use the home in a 'tenant-like manner': heat and ventilate it reasonably, use the fans, don't dry washing all over cold rooms. But landlords carry the bigger legal duties. Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, a rented home must be fit to live in — and serious damp and mould can make it legally unfit. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 puts the repairing obligations for the structure, and for ventilation and heating systems, on the landlord. And for social housing tenants, Awaab's Law (under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023) is being phased in to force landlords to investigate and fix reported damp and mould within strict, legally-set timescales.

When to call us

If the mould keeps returning after you've sorted the habits, if it's spread across more than a patch or two, or if it's in a property you let, it's worth a proper diagnosis. We'll tell you honestly whether it's condensation, penetrating or rising damp — and quote the smallest fix that actually solves it, not the biggest. Book a damp survey across Birmingham, the Black Country, Coventry and the wider Midlands — the survey fee is refundable against any works you go ahead with.