Damp and mould in Mid Devon: enforcement and the rent repayment link
The enforcement route
Damp and mould are classifiable hazards under the Housing Health and Rating System (HHSRS). In Mid Devon, the council's housing team assesses hazards on inspection and can serve an improvement notice requiring works within a set time.
Where it becomes a rent repayment matter
Two links in the chain:
- The notice itself. Failure to comply with an improvement notice is a criminal offence — Housing Act 2004 s.30(1) — and one of the ten RRO-qualifying offences. A landlord who ignores the council's notice hands every affected tenant a claim.
- The licence condition angle. Licensed HMOs carry management conditions; persistent damp from poor management breaches the Management Regulations (s.234) and can trigger licence revocation — relevant conduct evidence in any claim.
What to do in Mid Devon
- Document: dated photos, a one-line-per-incident log, medical visits if health is affected.
- Report to the council's housing team — ask specifically for an HHSRS inspection.
- Keep the paper: acknowledgment, inspection date, the notice when served.
- If the notice is served and ignored: your RRO claim now has a clean statutory anchor — the notice dates bound the offence period.
Awaab's Law context
Social-rented homes now face fixed timescales for damp remediation; private-rented extension is in progress. Regardless of the timetable's final shape for Mid Devon, the s.30 route works today.
*Reviewed by Sean McNamara against legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK guidance. Last verified 2026-09-04.*
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Reviewed by Sean McNamara against legislation.gov.uk, GOV.UK tribunal guidance and council registers. Last verified: 2026-09-04.