About Mould and Damp

Mould and Damp is a small, free service for people in England with a damp or mould problem. It's run by one person, Ajay Singh, as a sole trader.

It isn't a damp-proofing company. Nobody here surveys houses, treats walls or fits fans. Each enquiry goes to one independent specialist who covers the area, and they do the work.

Why I started it

Search for help with damp and you tend to get two things. Comparison sites that pass your number to several firms at once, and damp-proofing companies whose main product is a chemical injection, whatever the problem turns out to be. Neither is much use if you just want to know what's wrong with your wall and roughly what it'll cost.

Plenty of damp in English homes is condensation, which needs better ventilation and heating rather than a new damp course. Some is rain getting in through a cracked gutter or worn pointing. Real rising damp exists, but it's one cause among several. A site that explains the difference, and then puts you in touch with one person who can look properly, seemed worth building.

The law has also moved. Social landlords now have fixed deadlines for dealing with damp and mould, and the government is consulting on bringing private landlords into the same system. That makes it more important for landlords to get a competent person in quickly, and for tenants to know what they can expect. The Awaab's Law guide sets out what's in force and what's still only proposed.

I also run a sister site for Scotland, where the law and the housing are different enough that it needs its own pages.

How specialists are chosen

Honestly: at this stage, simply. I look for independent damp and mould businesses that work in an area, take on the kind of jobs people ask about, and want enquiries. I don't vet, inspect, accredit or insure them, and the site doesn't say otherwise anywhere.

If you tick the optional box on the form, I may ask you afterwards how it went. Specialists who don't turn up, or charge more than they quoted, stop getting enquiries. That's the only quality control there is for now, and it's why the questions on the how it works page are worth asking before you agree to anything.

How the site pays for itself

Specialists may pay for the enquiries passed to them in their area. You pay nothing to use the site, and the specialist sets their own prices.

What you can rely on here

• Your details go to one specialist, not a list. The privacy notice explains exactly what's shared and for how long.
• Every legal date and rule on the site links to gov.uk or legislation.gov.uk, and pages show when they were last checked.
• Prices come from named, published cost guides, with the date. Where nobody publishes a reliable figure, the page explains what drives the cost instead of guessing.
• Anything about health is taken from the NHS website and linked. The site doesn't give medical advice.
• Tenants aren't treated as sales leads. They get a guide to their rights instead.

Get in touch

Email [email protected]. There's no phone line: the specialists do the talking about jobs, and I deal with questions about the site, corrections and data requests by email.

The data protection registration number with the Information Commissioner's Office is ZC284176.