To live and, especially, to rent in the UK is to know way too much about black mould.

Citizen’s Advice UK says that more than half of UK renters are living with mould; government stats from 2021 suggest private rentals are just under six times more likely than owner-occupied houses (11% vs 2%) to suffer from the spores.

Anyone who’s ever gone to a landlord about the issue will have heard the same advice; “just clean it”, “open your windows” (even in the middle of winter), and “don’t leave clothes on the radiator” (even if there’s no tumble drier, and hanging clothes outside is banned) are all common refrains.

But if taking those measures isn’t working for you, there might be something bigger at play.

Why does mould always come back?

Just because mould isn’t visible doesn’t mean it’s not there; in fact, by the time the hyphae that cause mould have formed spores, they’ve already started to spread.

That’s why your home, which has had low humidity over the summer, can still grow mould in the winter.

“Even when water-damaged buildings and home contents dry out, the probability of those spores already having been dispersed within the home is really high,”

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