Mould and damp 

30 November 2022 

Following the tragic case in the news recently about the two-year-old who died from a respiratory condition that the coroner concluded was caused by exposure to mould in his housing association home. 

The housing ombudsman has shone a spotlight on how social housing providers manage reports of mould and damp and made a number of recommendations. 

We would like to reassure you 

We are committed to providing our customers with safe and healthy homes. We are constantly reviewing our procedures and processes to ensure that we are doing everything we can to prevent and resolve damp and mould issues, these include: 

• Having a rapid response team for damp and mould cases 
• Completing a stock condition survey and housing health and safety rating system (HHSRS) assessment of every domestic property every five years. This survey helps us to identify and track damp and mould issues 
• Considering the needs of specific customers, including any vulnerabilities, when categorising damp and mould cases. We also have clear escalation procedures in place for cases relating to vulnerable customers, children, or customers with illnesses 
• Investigating the root causes of damp and mould as well as managing the symptoms. This helps us to prevent damp and mould issues from recurring  
• Reviewing our procedures in relation to enquiries and repairs regarding mould and damp. All cases are triaged and are categorised as severe, moderate, or slight. Each category is assigned a response time with the most serious carrying a 24-hour target 
• Using a mix of specialist contractors and trained colleagues to deal with damp and mould issues. This ensures that we have the expertise and resources to resolve these issues quickly and effectively 
• Reporting HHSRS data to our internal asset compliance group and Health & Safety Executive Forum. This data is used to track our performance and identify areas where we can improve.