Regulator of Social Housing publishes a Report on Damp and Mould in Social Housing  

On the 28th of June 2023 the Regulator of Social Housing published a report on damp and mould, learning lessons. This report has been produced from the evidence gathered by the regulator when they asked all large social housing landlords, in December 2022, to set out the extent of damp and mould in the homes they manage and how they are tackling this issue.   

The regulator estimates that fewer than 0.2% of social homes have the most serious damp and mould problems, 1-2% have serious damp and mould problems, and a further 3-4% have notable damp and mould. 

The report provides the better and weaker responses to damp and mould issues and the report finds that ‘high quality, comprehensive and up-to-date stock condition information is the foundation of strong asset management. In conjunction with this, landlords need to understand the needs of their tenants, such as potential vulnerabilities and considering language or literacy barriers in reporting issues, so that they can triage these cases appropriately.’ 

The regulator provides examples of weak responses, which included not having a comprehensive and up to date stock condition surveys and data, not having a clear process to deal with damp and mould in their homes and not being able to demonstrate they knew the number of cases of damp and mould in their homes. 

The report highlighted the common features of social landlords who demonstrated a comprehensive understanding and response to damp and mould: 

• Better governance 
• Better stock condition data systems 
• Better operational approach to managing damp and mould 

 

Finally, the report also highlights the need for social landlords to be prepared for the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill, which will ‘place more responsibilities on landlords to respond to complaints about damp and mould and other hazards quickly and inform their tenants about how to complain.’ 

You can access a copy of the report via this link.