Britain's Mouldy Homes
Last week on Monday 10 February, BBC Panorama aired an investigation into the condition of rented properties in the UK. The reporter Rahil Sheikh spoke to families living with damp and mould in both social housing and private rented properties, and revealed how the home of one elderly couple, who claimed that damp and mould is impacting their health, are owned by one of Britain’s wealthiest landlords.
The documentary also alludes to the recent government announcement that Awaab's law will be brought into force in Autumn this year and whilst the final details of the legislation have not been made available, will cover the likely implications in our last webinar.
The cases shown were shocking, but regrettably the stories will be all too familiar to some. The report questions how some four years later from the tragic death of toddler Awaab Ishak, we are still seeing instances of such extreme mould. There can be no doubt that public tolerance towards damp and mould has shifted quite significantly and it is also apparent that there is still an abundance of these extreme cases out there. At the moment it appears that when the new legislation comes into force it will hit many hard.
When we responded to the consultation on Awaab's Law we applauded their ambition but raised concerns that forcing landlords to such tight timescales would not leave them time to do their due diligence. Not to mention a lack of competent assessors to meet the sheer scale of the demand in the desired timescales, and so far we have heard nothing to suggest they have acknowledged our concerns.
Having reflected on the documentary I was left questioning how fit for purpose our existing housing stock is to meet our modern needs and demands. The expectations of these building have changed massively since most were constructed. They are all now subjected to additional moisture loading, increased air tightness, combined with increased fuel costs.
Instinctively landlords will turn to retrofit to improve the quality of our homes but as was demonstrated at an Energy Security and Net Zero Committee yesterday.
As it stands, we are still finding our feet when it comes to retrofit, and the consequences of when it goes wrong and becoming another all too familiar tale. However perhaps the most extreme case of retrofit going wrong hit the headlines this week where the consequences were vermin and not damp.
So to round this up, despite there clearly being a lot of goodwill to address the issue of quality of homes within the UK, it still feels like there are more questions then answers. At the PCA, we are committed providing our members with knowledge on the evolving challenges of damp. Through specialised training courses, such as our Surveying Timber and Dampness in Buildings and Evaluating Sprayed Polyurethane Foam in Domestic Roof course, we ensure they stay ahead in damp diagnostics, reinforcing our position as industry leaders.