Damp, mould or smells from a neglected house next door: what can you do?

A clammy bedroom wall with dark patches, a smell in the hallway that never clears, silverfish in the bathroom or a gutter pouring down your wall whenever it rains. When the house next door has been neglected for a long time, you often notice it first on your side of the wall. You cannot see the cause, and behind the front door there is sometimes more going on than overdue repairs. Here you will read what you can do, how to raise it calmly and who can help if talking does not work.

Why you notice it so late

Damp and smells travel slowly: a leaking gutter can take months to show as a patch on your side, and a smell on the landing slowly becomes normal. What you might notice:

• Damp and mould. Dark patches, peeling wallpaper or a cold, clammy party wall.

• Smell and pests. A musty or rotting smell in the hallway; silverfish, flies or mice coming through gaps.

• Neglect outside. An overflowing gutter, a loose downpipe or cracks in the wall.

What you see is the effect. The cause may be next door, but also the roof, a shared pipe or your own home. Until someone has investigated, it remains a suspicion.

Raise it kindly

A cluttered or neglected home often says something about how the person living there is doing. Illness, old age, bereavement, money worries or hoarding can mean someone no longer copes with the house and feels ashamed. A judgement closes the door; describing what you notice on your side keeps it open. Ask for one specific step and offer to help:

"For a few months I have seen a damp patch on our bedroom wall, on your side. I don't know where it is coming from. Could we get a plumber to look at it together, from both sides?"

Do not mention diagnoses or guesses about anyone's health, and photograph your own wall, not through your neighbour's window.

What can you ask for and agree?

• An inspection from both sides. A plumber or surveyor who looks at the wall or gutter, so the cause is established before anyone pays.

• Rubbish removed on an agreed day. With help from you, family or the council's bulky waste service.

• Pest control in both homes at once. Otherwise it is back within weeks.

• Approaching the landlord together. For someone who cannot manage alone, that is often a relief.

What do the rules say?

In England and Wales, premises in such a state as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance, and accumulations of rubbish that are prejudicial to health or a nuisance, can be statutory nuisances under the Environmental Protection Act 1990; if the council is satisfied that one exists, it must serve an abatement notice. A smell from an ordinary home is not a statutory nuisance in itself, but can count where the state of the premises causes it. If your neighbours rent, their landlord must keep the structure and exterior in repair; your own landlord has the same duty for damp and mould in your home. This article is not legal advice.

Keep a record of what you notice

Each time, note what you saw, smelled or measured yourself: date, place, size of the patch or strength of the smell, and what it meant for you. Write nothing about your neighbours' health or way of life, and no cause that has not been established. Keep dated photos of your own wall separately, so you can later show a landlord or the council factually what is going on.

In practice

Many councils have a route for filthy or verminous premises. Dover District Council, for example, explains that after a report, officers inspect and first talk with the occupier about clearing and cleaning; only if that fails do they serve a notice, and as a last resort they arrange the work and recover the cost. The council adds that these cases often involve people who can no longer look after themselves, must be handled sensitively and sometimes involve adult social care (source: Dover District Council). The lesson: a report to the council is not an attack on your neighbour; it can be how support reaches them.

If you cannot sort it out together

• Send a second, clear letter. Refer to your earlier message, mention observations from your log and repeat your proposal.

• Report it to the landlord or managing agent. Your neighbours' landlord is responsible for repairs; the managing agent for party walls, the roof and shared pipes.

• Report it to the council. For severe filth, pests or a risk to health, environmental health can investigate and act.

• Worried about the person themselves? Raise a safeguarding concern with the council's adult social care team, without judgement.

• Try community mediation. A neutral mediator can help if talking is difficult.

Help with the first message

The CalmNotes pack on damp, mould and smells from a neglected neighbouring home gives you editable sample messages to raise it calmly and without judgement, follow-up messages, an explanation of the rules and a log. More tips on the page damp, mould and smells from next door.

Choose a suitable next step

Free incident diary — Record incidents, contact and agreements.

Prepare your records and request for help — Organise your information and prepare a request for help.

Find support — Find out who may be able to help with your situation.