Plymouth Damp and Mould: Rainfall, Post-War Rebuilds and Street-by-Street Risk

The Met Office station at Plymouth Mountbatten, about a mile from the city, records an average of 1,038 mm of rain a year. That is well above the roughly 650 to 830 mm behind our profiles of Worcester, Stoke-on-Trent, Bath and Exeter. With 32.8% of Plymouth's homes terraced, against 23.0% across England, weather is an obvious pressure on the building stock.

Plymouth in numbers

• Private rented households: 22.6% (England 20.5%); social rented: 18.4% (England 17.1%)
• Terraced homes: 32.8% (England 23.0%); flats: 24.7% (England 21.4%)
• Homes with no central heating: 1.9% (England 1.5%)
• Overcrowded households: 2.7% (England 4.4%)
• River or sea flood risk: 1.0% (England 1.9%); surface-water risk: 3.1% (England 5.9%)
• Rainfall: about 1,038 mm a year at Mountbatten, around a mile away

Two housing eras, two kinds of damp

Plymouth's rented stock includes substantial Victorian terraces in areas such as Stonehouse and Union Street, alongside post-war rebuild stock in the city centre after wartime bomb damage. Victorian terraces tend to suffer rain penetration, failing pointing and rising damp. Post-war buildings are more likely to have condensation problems from thin insulation and cold bridging, or leaks from flat roofs. The same city, and the same rain, produce different faults.

Why risk varies street by street

Damp risk in Plymouth varies significantly by street rather than being uniform across the city, so a city-wide figure is a poor guide to any one property. The age and construction of the building, its exposure to the prevailing weather, and the condition of its roof and rainwater goods matter more. Surface-water and river flood risk are both below England's, which supports looking at the building before the location.

Vulnerable occupiers get faster attention

Plymouth City Council's housing enforcement policy directs officers to give extra weight to the vulnerability of occupiers, such as children, older residents or people with existing health conditions, when a service request identifies damp and mould. For landlords, that means a report from a household with a baby or an elderly tenant should be treated as urgent. The council also has a duty to act on any category 1 hazard.

What landlords must do

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 requires a rented home to be fit to live in. Investigate promptly, fix the cause and keep a record.

Awaab's Law currently applies to social housing, with private landlords expected to follow. Our guide to Awaab's Law and the private rented sector covers the current position.

To find a specialist, see our Plymouth damp and mould page, and see the council's page for reporting poor housing conditions.