The Housing Ombudsman has revealed that more than 100 severe damp and mould cases have been reported, highlighting that this issue now accounts for half of its total caseload.
The Housing Ombudsman has shared troubling findings from over 100 severe damp and mould cases across 20 landlords. These cases, identified between October 2021 and March 2024, highlighted consistent failures by social landlords to address widespread issues in their properties. The Ombudsman emphasised the importance of landlords taking a zero-tolerance approach to damp and mould, stressing that it’s not merely a lifestyle issue caused by tenants but often a result of poor maintenance or oversight by landlords.
How is this affecting the tenants?
Many of the affected tenants, including vulnerable individuals, reported health problems such as asthma, which were exacerbated by the conditions in their homes. Cases shared by the Ombudsman illustrate severe situations, like families enduring fungus growth and children becoming sick due to landlords’ failure to act promptly on repair requests. Notably, London landlords, including councils and large housing associations like Clarion and L&Q, were cited for a higher number of complaints, with the capital accounting for 57% of the maladministration findings.
The report encourages landlords to be proactive, using complaints data to anticipate problems and conduct regular inspections. However, it also acknowledged the operational complexities facing landlords, especially with the competing demands of building safety and sustainability retrofits. Nonetheless, the Ombudsman made clear that damp and mould must remain a priority, especially given the significant increase in complaints related to these issues over the past few years.
Landlords have been urged to improve communication with tenants and speed up repair times to avoid further health risks and property damage
Source – https://bit.ly/48hA5f4
