There’s currently a skills gap where social housing providers are slow to prioritise damp and mould issues – and tend to clean it up with only temporary measures.
That is according to George Edwards, managing director of property services firm Timberwise.
Edwards was responding to Awaab’s Law, which will tighten up standards on damp and mould across England in October, and at a later date in Scotland, by shifting responsibility to the landlord and introducing stricter deadlines.
However it seems there’s often a lack of expertise in solving the root core of the problem.
Edwards said: “There’s a major skills gap. Social housing providers have been slow to prioritise damp and mould issues, and too often unqualified contractors, selected based on cost, fail to deliver on their promises.
“Temporary fixes, like simply cleaning mould, are common, but they don’t address the root causes. This leads to recurring problems and frustrated tenants.”
Edwards added: “The challenge is huge. Social housing landlords need to act now to ensure they have the capacity to implement long-term, sustainable solutions. If they don’t, we risk seeing continued tenant frustration and a lack of confidence in landlords’ ability to tackle damp and mould.”
One of the key issues, according to Mr Edwards, is landlords’ failure to understand the full range of factors that contribute to condensation, which in turn causes mould.
This can include occupancy patterns, heating regimes, and ventilation systems – some of which can be solved with modern, energy-efficient solutions such as positive pressure ventilation units, automatic mechanical ventilation systems, and data logging technology to monitor performance.
