What Evidence Do I Need for a Housing Ombudsman Damp Complaint

What the Housing Ombudsman needs to see: the three things to prove

You put yourself in a strong position with the Housing Ombudsman when you can clearly prove three simple things about your damp problem: when you reported it, what it has done to your home and household, and how your landlord responded once they knew. The Ombudsman is evidence‑led, not impression‑led. Your job is to turn a stressful experience into a small set of facts that can be checked against documents, photos and dates.

Being organised buys you calm when the housing situation feels chaotic.

Think of your complaint as three core questions:

1. Notice – When did you first put the landlord on notice about damp, mould or leaks, and how often did you chase?
2. Impact – How has the problem affected your home, your use of rooms, and anyone’s health or wellbeing?
3. Response – What did the landlord actually do after each report, and did their actions match their duties and policies?

Those three strands mirror what the Ombudsman looks at in practice: whether your landlord knew there was a problem, what the damage and disruption were, and how reasonably they handled the complaint once it was raised.

To support those questions, write down three to six simple statements you want the Ombudsman to be able to tick off as either “supported by evidence” or “not supported”. For example:

• “I first reported black mould in the children’s bedroom on 12 October 2024 by email.”
• “The landlord inspected the property once, in November 2024, and did not check the roof or gutters.”
• “The mould returned within four weeks of the work being marked ‘completed’.”
• “By March 2025, the children were sleeping in the living room because their bedroom smelt damp.”

Each statement should be something you can back up with at least one item of evidence: an email, a screenshot from the online repairs portal, a letter, a photo, or a repair job note.

It also helps to link your evidence to repairing responsibilities, not just inconvenience. Damp and mould often relate to the structure and exterior of the building, or to installations like heating and ventilation, which are usually the landlord’s responsibility. When your statements refer to specific walls, roofs, windows, plumbing or ventilation, it becomes easier for the Ombudsman to look at whether the landlord acted reasonably in relation to their duty.

Finally, keep a clear line between things you observed and things you believe. Saying “there is black mould on the external corner wall and the paint is bubbling” is an observation; saying “this is definitely rising damp” is a diagnosis. If cause is disputed later, you want your pack to show careful, factual recording rather than guesses. For the Ombudsman, calm, precise observations carry more weight than lay diagnoses. Your evidence should read like a logbook, not like a guessing game.

Eligibility and the complaint gateway: jurisdiction, final response and time limits

You save time and stress if you first check that your case is actually within the Housing Ombudsman’s remit, and that you have gone far enough through your landlord’s complaints process before you escalate. The Ombudsman deals with complaints about member landlords, mainly councils and housing associations in England, plus some private landlords and agents who have joined the scheme. If your landlord is not a member, the Ombudsman will not usually be able to investigate. If you live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland you may need to use different ombudsman or tribunal routes.

Before you spend hours scanning documents, check four basics:

• Your landlord is within the Housing Ombudsman scheme.
• You have reached, or are close to, a final complaint response.
• The key dates are still within typical time limits.
• You are clear whether your main concerns are about repairs, complaint handling, or both.

That way, you only build the evidence pack you actually need, instead of throwing everything at the wall and hoping some of it sticks.

The Ombudsman normally expects you to have completed your landlord’s formal complaints procedure before you come to them. For social landlords this is usually a two‑stage process:

• Stage 1: your initial formal complaint and the landlord’s written response.
• Stage 2: your escalation request and the landlord’s final response.

For evidence, you will want:

• A copy of your stage 1 complaint (or the complaint form) and the stage 1 response.
• Your escalation request, with the date you sent it.
• The stage 2 or “final” response, or proof that you have been waiting unreasonably long for it.

Adding these items to your evidence pack shows that you have given the landlord a proper chance to put things right and that the Ombudsman has jurisdiction to look at what happened.

Timing also matters. The Ombudsman expects you to bring your complaint within a reasonable period, often within twelve months of the landlord’s final response. You do not need to recite rules in your pack, but your timeline should make it easy to see when the final response was issued and when you decided to escalate. If you are still waiting for a final response long after the landlord’s own timescales, your evidence showing that delay can support the Ombudsman looking at complaint handling as well as repairs.

Alongside the Ombudsman, there is a separate track for urgent hazards. If you believe your home is unsafe now, for example severe mould in a child’s bedroom or repeated leaks near electrics, it can be appropriate to contact your local council’s environmental health or housing standards team. If you do that, keep records of those contacts too. The Ombudsman focuses on the landlord’s actions and complaint handling; environmental health focuses on the hazard itself. Evidence of both routes can help show that you took reasonable steps where risk was high and that the landlord had more than one warning that conditions were not acceptable.

Evidence hierarchy: must‑have items, strong corroborators and ‘nice to have’

Your first decision is which documents and photos are worth sending, rather than flooding the Ombudsman with everything you have. A simple evidence hierarchy, including clear Condition evidence: photos where relevant, stops you and the Ombudsman drowning in screenshots and stray emails: start with the must‑have items, add strong corroborators if you have them, and only then consider any “nice to have” extras that genuinely add clarity instead of noise.

Must‑have items

These are the six items that almost every strong damp complaint pack should contain:

1. First notice proof – one clear, dated item showing when and how you first reported the issue (email, portal screenshot, letter, or complaint form).
2. One‑page timeline – a simple table with dates, what you reported or the event, who you spoke to or saw, what was promised, and what actually happened.
3. Representative photos and/or video – enough to show where the damp or mould is, how bad it is, and whether it has got worse or returned, not every single image you have ever taken.
4. Key correspondence – the main emails, letters or portal messages that show important decisions, promises, apologies or refusals.
5. Inspection and works records – any landlord or contractor reports, job sheets, completion notes or surveyor reports that show what was looked at or done.
6. Final complaint response – the stage 2 or final complaint letter, or evidence you have been left waiting beyond the landlord’s timescales.

If any of these are missing, focus there first before worrying about extras. Once they are in place, everything else should be judged by whether it adds real clarity to that core picture.

Strong corroborators

Once the essentials are covered, these items strengthen your case when they exist but are not always available:

• Call logs or screenshots showing the dates and times you phoned to report or chase.
• Moisture or humidity readings from a home hygrometer, logged over several weeks.
• Environmental health reports or notes from other professionals who have inspected.
• Landlord policies or handbooks showing what their damp, mould, repairs and complaints procedures say should happen.

These items make it easier for the Ombudsman to see patterns and confirm what you say, but they sit on top of, not instead of, the core six.

Nice to have

Finally, there are things that can be helpful if used carefully, but can also dilute your case if they are not handled properly:

• Home thermal images or damp metre readings you have taken yourself.
• Long message threads where the same point is repeated many times.
• Social media posts about your situation.

If you decide to include any of these, keep them tightly controlled. A single example thermal image labelled by date and room is more useful than fifty nearly identical screenshots. The Ombudsman is unlikely to base a decision on technical readings you have taken without training, but seeing that you repeatedly measured high humidity in a room can support the general picture of conditions. Too many marginal items, though, can make it harder for an investigator to see the core story.

Across the whole pack, it helps to give each document a simple reference, such as E1 or E2, so you can later point to it quickly from your timeline or complaint. You are building a small case file, not a scrapbook. The tighter and clearer it is, the easier it is for someone else to follow.

The next step is to make sure the photos and measurements you rely on are as clear and trustworthy as the documents.

Condition evidence: photos, video and measurements that can be trusted

Condition evidence: photos, video and measurements that can be trusted are the part of your pack that proves damp, mould or leaks are really there, where they are and how they change over time. The strongest examples are clear photos and short videos taken from the same positions, with enough background to show which room or wall you are looking at and enough repetition over weeks or months to show whether things are improving, static or getting worse.

A simple approach is to use a three‑shot sequence for each affected area:

1. Context shot – a wide photo of the whole room or wall, so it is obvious which part of the home you are talking about.
2. Mid‑range shot – a closer photo that still shows some surrounding features such as a window, radiator or door frame.
3. Close‑up – a detailed photo of the mould, staining, blistered paint, flaking plaster or water droplets.

If you take that same three‑shot sequence from the same position every week, and after any repair visit, it becomes much easier to see whether things are improving, staying the same, or getting worse. For example, you might photograph the same bedroom corner every Sunday for three months and note those dates in your timeline alongside a gutter repair, so an investigator can see whether the work actually changed conditions.

Adding scale helps too. Put a ruler, tape measure, or even a coin next to a patch of mould before you take the close‑up photo. That gives a quick sense of size. Including obvious building details such as the junction between skirting board and wall, or the exact corner where two walls meet, helps a technical reader understand how moisture might be getting in or where condensation might be forming.

If you decide to instruct an independent damp specialist, their observational photos and moisture readings can sit alongside your own images to create a fuller, but still grounded, picture of what is happening in the building.

Video is particularly useful for active leaks. A single continuous clip that shows the leak point, the surrounding area and a visible time reference (like a clock, a phone screen or the television news) is much more convincing than lots of short, edited clips. If there is a clear link to heavy rain, you can mention that in your timeline and note the date.

For all digital evidence, keep the original files from your phone or camera untouched in a safe place. If you want to crop, annotate or blur parts of an image, do it on a copy. That way, if there are any questions later about when or how a photo was taken, you can point back to an unedited original with its date and time information intact.

Before you share photos or videos, think about privacy and safety. Avoid including people’s faces, children’s bedrooms in a way that reveals personal details, or paperwork on tables that shows bank details or ID numbers. If you cannot avoid capturing something sensitive, you can blur or block that part out in a copy while keeping the important damp evidence visible; careful redaction does not usually weaken the value of what you are showing.

Simple, repeatable photos and clips with clear context are far more powerful than trying to be a one‑person lab. Your goal is to show a pattern that another person can follow: where the problem is, how big it is, and how it has changed since you first reported it.

Notice and landlord response evidence: reports, logs, job sheets and access

When the damp itself is clearly documented, the focus shifts to how your landlord responded once they knew. This is where a clean record of notice, responses and access can make the difference between a strong complaint and one that comes down to word against word, because it shows not just that the problem existed but how it was handled.

Start by anchoring first notice. That might be:

• An email or online repairs form confirming the date and time you reported damp or mould.
• A screenshot from your landlord’s portal showing a repair request with a job number.
• A letter you posted, ideally with a photo or scan before you sent it.
• A diary entry plus an itemised phone bill or screenshot showing when you called.

Keep that item near the front of your evidence pack and make sure your timeline points to it. Together, these records give the Ombudsman a clear starting point for judging how quickly your landlord should have acted.

Then build up the sequence of landlord actions. For each visit, promised repair or contact, try to record:

• The date and how you were contacted (phone, text, email, letter, portal).
• Who it was (repairs line, housing officer, contractor name where known).
• What they said they would do (inspect, treat mould, repair guttering, check ventilation).
• Any reference numbers or job titles.
• Whether they came when they said they would, and what was actually done.

Landlord systems usually record job status as “raised”, “in progress” or “completed”. Your evidence might show a different reality, for example that a contractor left without being able to investigate, or only wiped down surfaces without addressing a leak. A job may show as “completed” on the landlord’s system on a day when nobody attended, or when an operative only wiped surfaces and left a leak untouched.

Disputes about access are common. Landlords sometimes argue that delays occurred because they could not gain entry, while residents say they waited in and no one came. To protect yourself, note down:

• Dates and time windows you were given for visits.
• Texts or emails confirming appointments.
• Any “card left” notes placed through your door, photographed on the day.
• Times you were at home and any issues making access possible.

Taken together, these access records help an investigator see whether missed visits were occasional or being used as a blanket excuse.

If you had to cancel or rearrange, record that openly. What matters is not pretending you were available 100 per cent of the time, but showing a fair picture of how often access was offered or missed on both sides.

When landlords claim the issue is purely condensation or lifestyle, it can feel like blame. The most useful counter‑evidence is not anger; it is a record of what the building fabric and systems are actually doing. Evidence such as non‑working extract fans, windows that do not open properly, missing trickle vents, broken rainwater goods, or damp on walls with no obvious source of moisture from your activities can all help show that there may be structural or ventilation issues as well.

For advocates, it can help to gather the landlord’s own leaflets or letters about condensation and mould, and then place them next to inspection notes and photos that suggest a different picture. That lets an investigator see whether the landlord has relied too heavily on lifestyle explanations without adequate investigation.

All of these items, organised into a simple timeline and indexed exhibits, help move the discussion away from conflicting stories and towards a documented sequence of events the Ombudsman can actually work with.

Impact evidence: health, safety, belongings, costs and vulnerability

The Ombudsman also looks at what the damp and mould have done to you and your household. Impact evidence needs to be proportionate and factual. The aim is to show changes to how you live, what you have had to spend, and any health or vulnerability factors, without trying to play doctor or exaggerate.

A clear timeline often speaks louder than a long complaint letter.

A dated impact diary can be powerful. Short entries such as:

• “January: children moved into living room because bedroom smells musty and feels cold.”
• “February: started running dehumidifier every night; electricity bill increased.”
• “March: mould spots reappeared on ceiling above bed two weeks after contractor visit.”

That kind of record turns a general feeling of “this has been awful for ages” into specific, checkable facts.

Where you already have health‑related documents, such as letters from a GP, asthma nurse or hospital, you can include them. Focus on what was reported and advised, rather than asking the clinician to say that damp definitely caused every symptom. It is usually enough that the notes show a pattern of respiratory issues or skin problems that you reported at the same time as the damp and mould were present. The Ombudsman is not a medical body; it is interested in whether it was plausible for the landlord to take those health concerns seriously when deciding what to do.

Impact on use of the home is just as important. Photos and short notes that show closed‑off rooms, beds moved into living areas, wardrobes emptied and stored elsewhere, or constant cleaning and wiping down are all relevant. The key is to tie them to dates in your timeline so the Ombudsman can see over what period you lost normal use of parts of the property.

Costs are another part of the picture. Keep receipts, invoices and screenshots showing:

• Dehumidifier purchase and, if possible, how often you needed to run it.
• Higher heating use while trying to dry out rooms or keep them warm.
• Laundrette or extra washing costs if clothes and bedding needed more frequent cleaning.
• Replacement of mould‑damaged belongings where it was reasonable to dispose of them.

Not every cost will be refunded, and the Ombudsman is not a court, but clear evidence makes it easier to consider fair redress.

Finally, consider vulnerability and reasonable adjustments. If you or someone in your household is disabled, has a long‑term health condition, is pregnant, very young or elderly, or has another factor that makes damp and mould more risky, it can be relevant. The proof is not just the fact of the vulnerability, but what you told the landlord and when. Evidence could include:

• A letter or email where you explained that a child has asthma or a resident has a suppressed immune system.
• A request for priority repairs or temporary rehousing because of those conditions.
• Any response from the landlord acknowledging or ignoring those points.

That combination of diary entries, documents and photos allows the Ombudsman to see the real‑world impact of the landlord’s decisions, not just whether a job number was closed.

Submission readiness: packaging, file discipline and common weak spots

Submission‑ready evidence is a pack that someone at the Housing Ombudsman can understand in minutes, not hours. That usually means one clear index page, a simple timeline, labelled exhibits and stable file formats, rather than a scatter of photos and emails. When you can quickly point to where notice, impact, landlord response and gaps all sit in that bundle, you are ready to send it with confidence.

Even strong evidence can lose its force if it arrives as unlabelled screenshots, overlapping email chains and unexplained documents. The Ombudsman will usually see a lot of material from both you and the landlord, so anything you do to make the order and purpose of each item obvious makes your complaint easier to follow and take seriously.

A simple starting point is a one‑page case index. This might include:

• Your name, address and landlord.
• A short statement of what your complaint is about.
• A table of exhibits (E1–E30), each with a short description and date.
• A note of what outcomes you are seeking (for example proper repair, apology, compensation, change in procedure).

Together, these details act as a map so a caseworker can see at a glance what your complaint covers and where to find the supporting documents.

Next, ensure that your documents are in stable formats. Combining related emails into a single clear document, or saving portal screenshots into one PDF with labels, is usually kinder to the reviewer than sending dozens of separate files with random names. Use file names that start with the date (for example “2025-03-12_inspection_note_E7.pdf”) so they sort in a sensible order. The aim is a bundle someone can follow quickly, not a full archive of everything that ever happened.

Before you send anything, look for gaps that commonly weaken damp complaints:

• Is the first notice clearly evidenced?
• Does your timeline cover the whole period, including quiet gaps where you were waiting?
• Is the stage 2 or final complaint response present, or do you have good evidence it is overdue?
• Are there long periods where only the landlord’s records exist but your own notes are silent?
• Are you relying heavily on opinions with no underlying documents?

You do not have to fix everything perfectly, but simply knowing where the gaps are helps you decide what to focus on.

Be careful too about sharing unnecessary personal information. Medical letters can be relevant, but full print‑outs of records may reveal very private details that have nothing to do with damp and mould. Check that redactions remove names, account numbers or unrelated conditions while leaving dates, broad diagnoses and advice visible.

If you decide to ask an independent damp specialist, such as Sussex Damp Experts, to prepare a survey or written summary, treat their report as one exhibit within the same structure, cross‑referenced in your index and timeline like any other document. Not every case needs a full independent survey, but where cause is disputed or investigation has been limited, a neutral report that records observations, method, limitations and likely causes can be a useful extra layer on top of a well‑organised core pack.

At this point you should have a clear timeline, a focused set of exhibits, well‑labelled condition photos, evidence of notice and responses, and a measured record of impact. That is the point at which extra help can add the most value, rather than starting from a blank page.

Book Your Consultation With Sussex Damp Experts Today

Sussex Damp Experts can help you turn scattered photos, emails and repair notes into a clear evidence pack that a Housing Ombudsman caseworker can follow quickly. A short consultation gives you space to talk through when damp or mould started, how you reported it, what has been done so far and how your household has been affected, so you come away with an organised view of your case instead of loose pieces and guesswork.

From there, our team can map your information into a simple timeline and exhibit list, highlight weak spots that commonly undermine damp complaints, and, where appropriate, carry out a technical survey that focuses on observations and likely moisture paths rather than blame. The aim is a set of photos, notes and, if needed, survey findings that sit together and tell a consistent, factual story the Ombudsman can work with.

If you want your evidence to do the heavy lifting for you instead of fighting the process on your own, book your consultation with Sussex Damp Experts today and get practical support that helps your case land clearly and confidently in front of the Ombudsman.

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