Keeping A Rented Home Right Through Winter
Winter is when rented homes show what they're made of. Cold spots become damp, condensation becomes mould, and a boiler that was fine in September stops on the first genuinely cold night.
This is about keeping on top of it through the season and knowing which problems are yours and which are the landlord's. For the jobs to do in autumn before it starts, see getting your rented home ready for winter.
The short version
- Heating and hot water are the landlord's, always. No heating in cold weather is a 24 hour emergency.
- Ventilation is yours, insulation is theirs, and most winter damp is a mix of both.
- Low steady heat beats short blasts, both for cost and for damp.
- Report cold-related problems as they happen, not in March when it's over.
The daily habits that matter
Not glamorous, and they prevent most of what goes wrong.
- Wipe window condensation in the morning. Two minutes with a cloth. Left to sit, it soaks into frames and sills and grows mould by February.
- Run extractor fans during and for fifteen minutes after showering or cooking, with the door shut so moisture doesn't spread through the flat.
- Open windows briefly, even in cold weather. Five to ten minutes with windows wide is better than an hour ajar, because you exchange the air without cooling the walls.
- Leave gaps behind furniture on external walls. A few centimetres, and check behind wardrobes occasionally.
- Dry washing outside if you can. If you can't, one room, door closed, window open or a dehumidifier running. Drying a full load indoors puts litres of water into the air.
- Don't block airbricks or trickle vents. Very tempting in January, and it makes damp considerably worse.
Heating, and the cost problem
The advice to keep low background heat rather than short blasts is sound, because cold surfaces are what condensation needs. A house that swings between freezing and warm grows more mould than one held steadily mild.
It also collides with what it costs. Under the current price cap, standing charges alone are about 86p a day before you use anything, so a small flat's bill is substantially fixed however careful you are.
What actually helps:
- Thermostatic valves turned down in unused rooms, but not off entirely. A completely cold room grows mould and the damage costs more than the heating saved.
- Heat the rooms you use, and close doors between heated and unheated spaces.
- Bleed radiators that are cold at the top. You can do this yourself with a cheap key.
- Check the boiler pressure occasionally, usually 1 to 1.5 bar.
- Draught-proof removably. Draught excluders, brush strips and window film all come with you and need no permission.
What renting actually costs and saving money when renting cover the bills side.
Where the line falls
The winter version of the responsibility question.
Theirs, without argument:
- The boiler, radiators and hot water system
- Insulation, and cold bridging in the structure
- Windows and doors that don't seal, and broken seals
- The roof, guttering and downpipes
- Extractor fans that don't work
- Damp caused by any of the above
- Frozen or burst pipes caused by inadequate lagging
Yours:
- Ventilating sensibly and using the fans
- Wiping surface condensation
- Keeping some heat on, including while away, to prevent freezing
- Clearing leaves from accessible gullies and drains
- Telling them promptly when something goes wrong
If the heating fails
No heating or hot water in cold weather is treated as an emergency, with a 24 hour target to make safe. That may mean an engineer attending, capping the fault and providing temporary heaters while a part is ordered, which is a landlord doing their job properly.
Report it in writing immediately, say who lives in the property, and keep receipts for anything you spend on heaters and their running cost.
If the boiler breaks and what counts as an emergency repair.
Frozen and burst pipes
The winter problem that does the most damage fastest.
Preventing: keep some heat on even when away, at 12 to 15 degrees rather than off entirely. Open the loft hatch in very cold spells so warmth reaches the pipes up there. Know where your stopcock is.
If a pipe freezes: turn off at the stopcock, open the nearest tap, and thaw gently with a hot water bottle or towels soaked in warm water, working from the tap end back. Never a blowtorch or a heat gun.
If one bursts: water off at the stopcock, electricity off at the consumer unit if water is anywhere near it, then ring the emergency number. Photograph everything for both your landlord's insurance and your own contents claim.
Damp and mould in winter
Peak season, and the point at which blame gets assigned.
Government guidance is unambiguous that it is "totally unreasonable to blame damp and mould in the home on 'lifestyle choices'", and identifies the causes as building deficiencies, inadequate ventilation, inadequate heating and poor energy efficiency rather than normal domestic activity.
So ventilate sensibly, and don't accept that as the whole answer. Report it in writing with dated photographs, and say who lives in the property. Damp and mould and who is responsible for mould.
Safety, which matters more in winter
More heating, more time indoors, more risk.
- Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms monthly. Carbon monoxide has no smell and its early symptoms resemble flu. Whose job are the batteries.
- Check the gas safety certificate is current. Annual, and you're entitled to a copy.
- Use electric heaters safely. Never overnight unattended, clear of curtains and furniture, and never on an extension lead.
- Keep escape routes clear, particularly in a shared house.
Keep a winter record
If the property is genuinely hard to heat or keeps growing mould, this is the season to evidence it.
Photograph a thermometer in the coldest room with a date. Note the dates of any heating failure. Keep energy bills. Photograph mould as it develops rather than once in March.
That record supports a repair request, an environmental health referral, or a claim. When a landlord won't repair.
The honest summary
Ventilate, wipe the condensation, keep low steady heat, and don't block the vents. Report heating failures immediately and treat them as emergencies, because they are.
Insulation, seals, fans and boilers are the landlord's. Report cold problems while it's cold, with photographs, rather than mentioning it in spring.
And if you spent a winter in a flat that couldn't be heated, that belongs on the record. Reviewing the property is the only way the next tenant finds out before they sign in July.
This guide covers England and reflects the position at August 2026. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ. General information rather than legal advice. Sources: GOV.UK guidance on damp and mould, GOV.UK, private renting repairs.