Breathing in black mould every day is not just unpleasant; it can trigger asthma attacks, constant coughing, sneezing, skin irritation and serious breathing problems for many Newport families. For babies, older people and anyone with allergies or lung conditions, living in a damp, mouldy rental can quickly turn a “small patch on the wall” into a genuine health risk that affects sleep, work and school.

Under Welsh housing law, your landlord must keep your home fit for human habitation, which includes dealing properly with damp and mould rather than ignoring it or just painting over the stains. The Renting Homes (Wales) Act gives you clear rights as a contract-holder, and new rules like Awaab’s Law are raising standards further by forcing social landlords to investigate and fix serious damp and mould within strict timeframes. That means if mould is affecting your health, you do not have to “put up with it” or feel grateful for temporary quick fixes.

In this guide, you will see a simple, step-by-step process for reporting mould to your Newport landlord, from taking photos and sending the first email through to escalating your complaint if nothing gets done. You will also learn when it is time to involve a professional team like PRBGE, who can survey your home, find the real moisture source and provide certified mould remediation across Newport and the wider South Wales area. When you are ready to get expert help or need evidence for your landlord, you can book a mould survey with PRBGE on 0333 335 6086.

Common Causes of Mould in South Wales Rentals

In South Wales rentals, mould almost always links back to how moisture builds up and how well (or badly) a property lets that moisture escape. Condensation is the biggest culprit in older homes across Newport and Cardiff, especially in properties with single-glazed windows, blocked air bricks or no working extractors in kitchens and bathrooms. Everyday activities like cooking, showering and drying clothes indoors load the air with moisture; when that warm air hits cold walls or windows, it condenses into water droplets and quickly feeds mould patches behind furniture, around windows and across bedroom walls. In the valleys around Rhondda Cynon Taf and Caerphilly, many traditional stone or solid-wall homes are also prone to rising and penetrating damp, where water travels up through walls or seeps in through cracked brickwork, failed pointing, damaged gutters or leaking roofs rather than from indoor humidity alone.

Landlord vs Tenant Responsibility for Mould

Because of this mix of building design and daily use, responsibility is usually shared. Your landlord must sort structural and building defects that cause damp, such as damaged roofs, defective damp-proof courses, failed gutters, rotten window frames or a lack of reasonable ventilation they should have provided. You, as the tenant, are expected to heat and ventilate the property sensibly where possible, use the fans and trickle vents installed, avoid consistently drying clothes directly on radiators and report damp or mould early before it spreads. In practice, serious or recurring mould in rented homes around Newport is often the result of poor ventilation design or unresolved damp issues, which means landlords usually need to take the lead by improving ventilation, repairing defects and, where necessary, commissioning professional mould remediation from specialists like PRBGE.

Your Legal Tenant Rights in Newport & South Wales

Under Welsh housing law, you have a clear right to live in a home that is fit for human habitation, and that includes being free from serious damp and mould that could harm your health. The Renting Homes (Wales) Act puts a legal duty on landlords to keep the structure and exterior in repair, maintain installations for heating and ventilation, and act when hazards like damp and mould are reported, rather than blaming lifestyle alone.

Once you report the problem in writing, your landlord is expected to investigate and then carry out repairs within a reasonable time; for minor patches this might be a matter of weeks, while more severe, health-related damp or mould issues should be treated as urgent, with action often required within about one to two months at most depending on severity and risk. If they ignore your complaint or keep promising but never actually fix the cause, you may be entitled to escalate through complaints procedures, seek help from advice services and, in some cases, claim compensation for disrepair or health impacts.

Local Enforcement in Newport, Swansea and the Valleys

You are not on your own if your landlord refuses to act. In Newport, the City Council’s environmental health team can inspect your rental, assess damp and mould as a hazard and, where needed, issue improvement notices or take enforcement action to force the landlord to deal with the problem properly. Similar powers exist across South Wales, so tenants in Swansea, Merthyr Tydfil and surrounding valley authorities can also ask their local council to step in when serious problems are left unresolved. If you need strong evidence to support your case, a professional survey and report from a specialist like PRBGE can help show exactly what is causing the mould, how serious it is and what needs to be done, which puts extra pressure on your landlord to take your complaint seriously.

Step-by-Step: How to Report Mould to Newport Landlords

1. Start by Documenting the Problem

As soon as you notice mould in your Newport rental, start building a clear record of what is happening and where it appears. Take dated photos or short videos of every affected area, including close-up shots and wider images that show the whole wall, ceiling or window frame in context. Make a simple note of the locations, such as “main bedroom external wall,” “bathroom ceiling above shower” or “behind wardrobe in lounge,” and keep a timeline of when you first noticed the mould and how quickly it has spread. If anyone in your household has asthma, allergies or breathing problems that seem worse at home, write that down as well because it helps show why the issue needs urgent attention.

2. Notify Your Landlord in Writing

Once you have that evidence, the next step is to tell your landlord in writing so there is a clear, dated report on record. Email is usually best, but a letter you can photograph or send recorded delivery also works; either way, briefly explain where the mould is, how long it has been there and whether it is affecting your health, sleep or day-to-day life. Attach several photos, mention any children, older people or vulnerable adults living in the home and ask your landlord to confirm when they will inspect the property and what action they plan to take. If you rent through an agent, send the email to them and copy in the landlord if you have their details, so nobody can say they were unaware of the problem.

3. Arrange Access for Inspection and Assessment

After your written report, give your landlord a fair chance to inspect, but do not let the issue drift for months. In most cases, they should acknowledge your message within a couple of days and offer an inspection appointment within about 14 days, especially where mould is visible and linked to possible damp. When they visit, walk them through every affected room, show the photos you have taken and explain any health issues, then ask whether they will bring in a professional surveyor or mould remediation specialist to find the underlying moisture source instead of just wiping or repainting. If they do not take notes or measurements, politely follow up by email afterwards summarising what was discussed and asking for confirmation of next steps in writing.

4. Follow Up and Set Clear Timeframes

If you do not hear anything after the inspection, or if no inspection is offered at all, it is important to follow up promptly. Send a short reminder email, attach your original photos and refer back to your first report, then ask for a clear timetable for investigation and repairs so you know what to expect. For minor surface mould linked mainly to condensation, you might reasonably expect action within two to four weeks, while more serious or widespread damp and mould problems should usually be treated as urgent and addressed within about one to two months at most. If the landlord keeps delaying, cancelling appointments or simply does not respond, your written trail of emails becomes valuable evidence for the next stage.

5. Escalate to Newport Council Environmental Health

When your landlord ignores you or only offers temporary quick fixes, you can escalate the problem beyond them. In Newport, you can contact the City Council’s environmental health or housing team, explain the situation, share your photos and email trail, and ask for an inspection of your home under housing conditions and defects powers. Council officers can visit, assess the damp and mould as a hazard and, if they agree it is serious, issue formal notices that require your landlord to carry out proper repairs within set deadlines, not just cosmetic cleaning. At this stage, an independent damp and mould survey from a specialist like PRBGE can provide detailed evidence on the cause of the problem, recommended repairs and the risks of leaving it untreated, which strengthens your position when dealing with both the landlord and the council.

What If Your Landlord Still Doesn’t Respond? Escalation Guide

Expected Timescales for Action

Although exact timescales can vary by case, there are reasonable expectations once you have reported mould in your rented home. Many guidance documents suggest that landlords should acknowledge serious repair reports, including damp and mould, within about 48 hours, arrange an initial inspection within roughly five to seven days for urgent issues and then complete repairs within a window of around 14 to 60 days depending on the severity. If your landlord or agent repeatedly misses these informal benchmarks without good reason, especially where health is clearly affected, that delay can be evidence of them failing in their legal duties to keep the property safe and habitable. Keeping everything in writing helps you show that you have been patient and cooperative while they have not taken the problem seriously.

Involving Newport City Council and Other Support

When delays become unreasonable, contacting Newport City Council is often the next practical step. The council can inspect your property and, although there may sometimes be fees associated with certain types of private surveys, they can use their powers to assess hazards and push landlords to act where conditions are unsafe. Alongside the council, you can look for independent advice and support from housing advice charities, law centres or tenants’ groups who understand damp and mould disrepair cases and can help you understand your options.

Legal Remedies and Formal Complaints

If the mould problem continues and your landlord still will not carry out effective repairs, legal options may come into play. Depending on your situation, you might be able to bring a disrepair claim for compensation, ask the court to order repairs or use the landlord’s formal complaints procedure and, if applicable, escalate to the Housing Ombudsman or relevant redress scheme. Evidence is crucial here, which is why clear photos, medical notes and any survey reports will help demonstrate how long the mould has been present and what impact it has had on your home and health. Throughout this process, using a professional company such as PRBGE for detailed damp and mould surveys can provide strong, technical reports that carry weight with landlords, councils and solicitors alike.

Landlord vs Tenant: Who Pays for Mould Removal?

In most South Wales rentals, the starting point is that landlords must deal with serious damp and mould when it is linked to the building itself or to disrepair. That includes problems caused by rising damp, penetrating damp, leaking roofs, defective gutters, failed damp-proof courses, rotten window frames or inadequate fixed ventilation that a reasonable tenant cannot control. In these cases, the landlord is usually responsible for paying for proper repairs and for bringing in professional mould remediation, because the law expects them to keep the property fit to live in throughout the tenancy.

Tenants, on the other hand, are expected to manage day-to-day moisture as far as they reasonably can, for example by opening windows where safe, using extractor fans and avoiding constant indoor clothes-drying in small rooms. Light surface mould caused mainly by everyday condensation may be something you can carefully wipe away using safe cleaning products if the landlord has already fixed any underlying issues, but large areas of black mould, or patches that keep coming back, should never be treated as a simple DIY job. Where black mould is widespread or linked to damp that the landlord should have addressed, they should normally pay for professional mould removal, and tenants in Newport can use their rights and evidence to push back if they are unfairly asked to cover these costs themselves.

When it comes to actual prices, professional mould removal in the UK is typically charged either per room or per job. Recent cost guides suggest that treatment for a single affected room often sits in the region of around £150–£300, depending on how large the space is and how extensive the mould problem has become. For whole-house remediation, especially where mould appears in several bedrooms, hallways and living areas, total costs can easily move into a band of roughly £700–£2,000 or more once inspection, treatment and follow-up visits are included. These figures underline why tenants should not quietly agree to pay for major remediation themselves where the root cause lies with the property; in many Newport cases, those bills should fall on the landlord, not the contract-holder.

When to Call Professional Mould Removal Specialists

There are clear warning signs that a problem has gone beyond what a tenant can safely handle with basic cleaning. If you start seeing extensive black mould patches in multiple rooms, mould creeping across ceilings and external walls, or growth returning only weeks after you wipe it away, those are strong indicators that there is a deeper damp or ventilation issue that needs specialist attention. You should also call in experts if anyone in the property develops or worsens asthma symptoms, persistent coughs, sinus problems or allergy-like reactions that seem to improve when they spend time away from home. In rented homes around Newport, Cardiff or Swansea, black mould around windows, external corners and cold spots is often tied to structural cold-bridging or hidden moisture, which is exactly the kind of problem a professional team is trained to diagnose.

Professional mould removal specialists do much more than just clean visible staining. Companies like PRBGE use tools such as moisture meters, hygrometers and, where needed, thermal imaging to track how damp is moving through your walls, floors and ceilings so they can pinpoint the real source of the problem. That scientific approach allows them to recommend targeted solutions, from safe mould removal and biocidal treatments through to ventilation upgrades, insulation improvements and damp-proofing measures that stop the mould returning. For tenants, having a written survey and report from PRBGE or a similar specialist can be extremely useful because it shows your landlord and the council exactly what is wrong and what needs to be fixed, rather than leaving everything open to argument.

PRBGE provides mould removal services near you across Newport, Cardiff and Swansea, as well as the surrounding South Wales valleys and coastal areas. That includes support for private tenants, social housing residents and landlords who need reliable, professional mould remediation, along with related services such as damp proofing, condensation control and commercial mold remediation for offices or other workplaces. Whether you search for terms like “black mould removal specialist Newport,” “professional mould removal Cardiff” or “mould removal services near me Swansea,” PRBGE is set up to investigate the cause, remove the mould safely and design long-term prevention tailored to local building types and weather.

PRBGE Coverage for Tenant-Reported Mould

Newport & Surrounding Areas

If you rent in Newport itself or nearby areas such as Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen or Monmouthshire, PRBGE can carry out detailed mould and damp surveys to support your report to the landlord. Their team can act as your black mould removal specialist, safely treating affected rooms while also recommending ventilation improvements, extractor upgrades or other moisture-control measures suited to local housing stock. This combination of safe removal and practical upgrades is ideal where you need both immediate relief and long-term protection against recurring mould.

Cardiff & Surrounding Valleys

Tenants in Cardiff and surrounding districts such as Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Caerphilly and the Vale of Glamorgan can also access PRBGE’s professional mould remediation services. In these areas, many properties suffer from a mix of condensation, solid-wall construction and valley microclimates, so PRBGE often pairs thorough mould removal with tailored condensation control strategies like improved mechanical ventilation or changes to insulation and airflow. That approach helps both tenants and landlords protect older terraces, flats and family homes while reducing the risk of future disputes about responsibility.

Swansea, Port Talbot, Neath & Bridgend

On the western side of South Wales, PRBGE’s coverage extends across Swansea, Port Talbot, Neath and Bridgend, where coastal weather and salt-laden air create extra moisture challenges. Here, tenants can benefit from full mould removal services near them, backed by long-lasting prevention measures such as anti-mould coatings, targeted damp-proofing and improved ventilation suitable for exposed, coastal or valley locations. This regional coverage means that, wherever you rent across South Wales, you can point your landlord toward a credible, local specialist who understands both the climate and the common building types in your area.

Prevention Tips for Tenants in South Wales

Even when landlords fix structural problems, simple habits make a real difference to how quickly mould builds up. Using kitchen and bathroom extractor fans every time you cook or shower, and leaving them running for a short period afterwards, helps clear steam before it can condense on cold surfaces. Opening trickle vents and, where safe, cracking open windows for short bursts of cross-ventilation also allows moist air to escape, especially in bedrooms and living rooms with external walls. Whenever possible, try to dry clothes outdoors or in a well-ventilated space with a window open or a dehumidifier running instead of directly on radiators in small rooms.

If you do spot early signs of mould, such as small black dots on silicone seals, grout lines or cold corners, report them to your landlord promptly rather than waiting for them to spread. Early reporting gives your landlord a chance to tackle the issue while it is still manageable and helps show that you are engaging with your responsibilities as a tenant. In many South Wales rentals, combining sensible ventilation habits with professional advice from PRBGE on condensation control and moisture management can drastically reduce the chances of serious mould problems developing again after treatment.

Why Choose PRBGE for Newport Mould Issues?

When mould keeps coming back or starts affecting your health, you need more than a quick wipe and a coat of paint. PRBGE specialises in expert mould remediation, damp proofing and condensation control across Newport and the wider South Wales region, focusing on eliminating the root cause of moisture rather than just hiding the symptoms. Their trained team uses diagnostic equipment, safe remediation methods and long-term prevention strategies so that treated rooms stay dry, healthy and comfortable for tenants and their families.

Choosing PRBGE also supports your local SEO goals because their services align perfectly with search terms like “mould removal specialists Newport,” “black mould removal specialist South Wales” and “professional mould removal Cardiff.” Whether you are a tenant who wants independent evidence, or a landlord looking for a reliable contractor, you can call PRBGE on 0333 335 6086 for a free survey quote or visit prbge.co.uk to arrange an inspection anywhere in Cardiff, Newport, Swansea or the surrounding valleys. This consistent presence across South Wales means PRBGE can step in quickly when mould problems are reported, helping protect both your health and your home.