We were pleased to attend the Housing Plus Academy’s recent think tank event, entitled “Damp and Mould: The Big Picture” which was hosted by NCRC (National Communities Resource Centre) at Trafford Hall in Cheshire.

Delegates arrived from around the country, with most representing social housing providers, or Local Authorities. We were keen to attend to provide our local insight, and to learn any new best practice examples from elsewhere.

Our own Dominic Griffiths (pictured) delivered a short presentation entitled “Dealing with Damp and Mould” that we use to clarify what types of damp problems a tenant should feel empowered to help prevent/alleviate (i.e. condensation), and what types of damp problems a tenant must escalate to their landlord for remedy (i.e. rising damp and penetrating damp), with an emphasis that black mould must always be removed swiftly, even if it keeps returning. Black mould is too bad for the tenant’s health for it to remain, and if the tenant wants their landlord (or 3rd party such as ourselves) to see it, they should take a photograph.

In the wake of the tragic death of Awaab Ishak in Rochdale that was linked by the coroner to the presence of black mould in his home, “Awaab’s Law” will force social landlords to fix damp and mould within strict time limits, in a new amendment to the Social Housing Regulation Bill. This means our focus turns to private tenants whose landlords might not take action so quickly, and homeowners who have nobody to escalate their problems to.

The main insights we took from the day were:

• The social landlords present are demonstrably passionate about working to prevent another needless death from damp and mould.
• There was a general agreement that years of insulating properties without increasing ventilation, has led to many properties being too airtight, meaning damp air cannot escape. Funding is required to retrofit suitable ventilation systems.
• One landlord in particular was keen to separate out “Damp and Mould” into “Condensation, Leaks, Damp and Mould”, separating condensation that can be affected by lifestyle, from other forms of damp that cannot, plus an emergency response to leaks, e.g. burst pipes, and missing roof tiles, which need to be remedied quicker than failed damp proof courses and cracked guttering, due to the amount of water they let into the property, and the damage they cause.
• There is an increasing amount of technology that can be used to track damp in the home. While most of this is being utilised by social landlords, so they can respond to “alerts” from devices they leave in properties, there is scope for private landlords and homeowners to utilise these too.
• The Grenfell disaster led to social landlords increasing their focus on fire safety, and Awaab’s death has led to an increased focus on damp and mould. There was a great worry in the room that they’re lurching reactively from disaster to disaster, as there is insufficient funding to proactively ensure all housing is improved to meet current expectation. Without that funding the next disaster could now be developing, while landlord attentions are focussed elsewhere.