DAMP, mouldy and unhealthy living conditions are sadly on the rise again in Glasgow.

Back in the mid-1990s I recall running 50 to 60 such cases at any one time as ordinary cause actions for recompense and repairs in the sheriff court.

Often tenants would have endured horrible living conditions for years. Furniture, clothing and bedding would have to be binned due to mould growth and dampness. Fuel bills were impossible. Living conditions were ugly.

In the most serious cases, children would end up hospitalised as damp living conditions exacerbated their asthma and respiratory health.

Sometimes parents would become severely ill too, as mental health conditions were made worse by the misery of nasty living conditions.

These cases were all ostensibly against the local authority, which in 2003 transferred all of its housing stock to Glasgow housing associations.

Damp and mouldy living conditions have always been an issue in the private rented sector too, but over the last few months, my colleagues at Govan Law Centre have seen more and more dampness cases from housing association properties.

One of my colleagues at Govanhill Law Centre has taken on six new housing association tenancy cases with dampness and black mould in the past fortnight. All of the tenants have children apart from one who is due to give birth. Here are two examples.

A housing association tenant has had reoccurring issues with dampness in her bedrooms since she moved in a few years ago. The landlord has been out to visit a number of times and some works were undertaken but the problem persists.

The tenant has suffered loss and damage to items in the home and has a compensation case with the law centre.

The landlord’s work included removing wallpaper, fixtures and fittings in the rooms causing a lot of inconvenience and disturbance but not resolving the dampness.

The landlord has failed to communicate what steps they intend to take next. The tenant has respiratory issues including asthma which has worsened. She suffers with depression, neurological issues and an underactive thyroid. She has a child who also suffers from asthma.

Another tenant has long-standing problems of dampness due to water leaking in through her roof. The private landlord and factor have carried out some repairs. An independent architect’s report confirms these aren’t sufficient to tackle the cause of dampness.

The tenant has suffered the loss of goods due to dampness in her cupboards and has an ongoing compensation claim. She suffers from mental ill-health and says her housing conditions have worsened this.

Her landlord never responded to correspondence. The landlord’s letting agent did reply but claimed as a common repair was required there was nothing they could do.

A first-tier tribunal claim was raised and a repair enforcement order was granted for the tenant. The tribunal was shocked at the tenant’s living conditions. Neither the landlord nor its representative attended the hearing.

All tenants in Scotland have a right to live in a home that is reasonably fit for human habitation and is wind and watertight. For social tenants these rights arise from the 2001 Housing (Scotland) Act; for private tenants, they arise from the 2006 Housing (Scotland) Act.

Social tenants have legal remedies in the sheriff court while private tenants can seek redress before the first-tier tribunal.

Significantly, the legal test for being reasonably fit for human habitation in Scots law means being free from dampness and mould.

In Fyfe v. Scottish Homes 1995 SCLR (Sh Ct) 213, Sheriff Gordon Q.C. said the meaning of ‘habitable’ must be related to the realities of life.

The court held that a house which was unhabitable by reason of being excessively cold or damp could not be said to be habitable simply because by applying a large amount of heat and incurring inordinate heating bills it might be rendered habitable.

This principle has been upheld in a number of cases, including before Scotland’s highest civil court in Gunn v. Glasgow District Council 1997 Hous LR 3.

This point is important – particularly with the current energy crisis – because it means a tenant must be able to heat their home at a reasonable cost in order to prevent condensation dampness.

Landlords often try and blame tenants for condensation dampness and legally that is wrong. A house needs to be able to cope with the normal activities of life – washing, cooking and showering.

Unlike in English law, there is no distinction between repairs and improvements in Scotland: a landlord must do whatever is necessary to make a home habitable. This principle goes back to the case of Marianski v. Jackson (1872) 9 SLR 480.

Anyone renting a home with damp or mouldy living conditions should not suffer in silence. You can get free help and representation from a Glasgow law centre.