Manchester Flats and Warehouse Conversions: Damp and Mould Complaints Explained

Manchester is a renters' city. At the 2021 Census, 32.3% of households in the city rented privately, against 20.5% across England, and a further 29.5% rented socially, against 17.1%. More than three in five households have a landlord. The housing they rent splits into very different types, and each needs a different diagnosis when mould appears.

Why is condensation mould so common in Manchester flats?

A third of Manchester's homes (33.8%) are flats, against 21.4% in England. The city centre has grown fast through converted mills and warehouses and new high-rise blocks, and many of these flats have limited natural ventilation: sealed windows, internal bathrooms and kitchens, and no through-draught. Moisture from cooking, showering and drying clothes has nowhere to go. The result is condensation mould, which is a ventilation problem rather than a leak, and which usually needs working extraction or mechanical ventilation rather than repairs to the building envelope.

What about the terraces?

Surrounding areas keep large stocks of Victorian and Edwardian terraces, 28.0% of dwellings against 23.0% nationally. Solid walls, ageing pointing and leaking gutters make penetrating damp the typical problem there. Telling the two apart is the first job: dehumidifiers and extractor fans will not fix a leaking gutter, and repointing will not cure a steamy bathroom.

What do the complaint figures show?

Freedom of information data from Manchester City Council shows damp and mould complaints about private rented homes rising from 649 in 2021 to a peak of 918 in 2023, and still elevated at 759 in 2025. Complaints are a measure of reporting as well as of conditions, but they show tenants and the council are paying much closer attention than before.

Manchester in numbers

• About 215,000 households. Overcrowding: 7.9% have fewer bedrooms than they need, against 4.4% in England.
• No central heating: 2.3% of households, against 1.5% in England.
• Flood risk: 2.8% of properties at medium or high risk from rivers and the sea (England 1.9%) and 5.8% from surface water (England 5.9%).
• Rainfall: 1,197 mm a year at Rochdale, nine miles away and the nearest Met Office station with long-term data. Rochdale sits higher, so the city itself is likely to be drier.

Figures are for the Manchester local authority area and come from the 2021 Census, the Environment Agency and the Met Office. Overcrowding well above average and a higher share of homes without central heating both make condensation likelier, which is one reason landlords should not assume mould is a tenant's fault.

What Manchester landlords owe tenants, and where Awaab's Law stands

Awaab's Law is named after Awaab Ishak, who died in Rochdale in 2020 after prolonged exposure to mould in his family's housing association flat. It has applied to social landlords in England since 27 October 2025. Private landlords are not covered yet: the Renters' Rights Act 2025 provides for an extension, the government's consultation closes on 18 December 2026 and no start date is confirmed. Today private landlords are bound by the Housing Act 2004, the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 and their repairing duties; see our page on private landlords and Awaab's Law. The council publishes damp and mould guidance for tenants, and landlords can compare specialists covering Manchester on MouldPros.