Mould and Condensation Surveys for a Housing Association

Brief: Carry out building surveys for properties that residents reported as having damp or mould issues.

Property: 40 social housing properties in York.

Instructed by: Housing association.

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Following the introduction of Awaab’s Law, we were instructed by a social landlord to inspect a sample of housing stock that the residents had said were subject to mould, damp and condensation problems.
The landlord has already treated the mould and arranged remedial works in these properties; they now wanted to assess if those works had been successful at stopping the problem recurring.
The surveys involved:
- inspecting the condition of the property
- assessing the levels of ventilation and insulation
- assessing the residents’ use of heating
- investigating the causes of damp
- air quality tests.

In most cases, the mould and the causes of mould had been resolved.
In houses where mould was still present, it was rarely caused by the behaviour of the residents.
- In a few cases, we found that residents were under-using their heating because of concerns over the costs.
- Some had also blocked up trickle vents and turned off extractors to stop the noise.
In most cases where mould and damp were present, this was due to ventilation and insulation defects.
- We found broken presusre ventialtion systems, and detatched ventilation ducting that was discharging warm, moist air into roof areas.
- We also found damaged loft insulation, leading to condensation on ceilings.