Ombudsman examines damp and mould ‘pinch points’ as Awaab’s Law takes effect

The Housing Ombudsman has highlighted “pinch-points” relevant to fulfilling key requirements under Awaab’s Law in its latest “learning from severe maladministration” report.

According to the watchdog, social landlords must strengthen their approach to damp and mould across several areas including assessing risk, access issues, complaint-handling, inspections and delayed works.

The report comes after phase one of Awaab’s Law, which requires social landlords to address damp and mould complaints within 24 hours, came into force yesterday (27 October).

It details a case of a resident reporting mushrooms growing on her daughter’s bedroom wall after Hackney Co-op failed to survey the property in a timely manner due to poor communication with the tenant regarding access.This meant the landlord completed works to address the hazards nearly 31 months after the initial complaint.

According to a learning statement included in the report, Hackney Co-op’s managing agent has since introduced a new damp and mould policy and procedure as well as restructuring its repairs and operations teams. The ombudsman said this has led to improvements in record-keeping and complaint management.

Hackney Co-op has been approached for comment. 

The report also urged landlords to give residents sufficient notice when making appointments to try and accommodate their preferred timings and ensure that contractors understand what work needs to be done to reduce the number of missed appointments.

>> See also: Is the social housing sector ready for Awaab’s Law?

>> See also: ‘More than new repair obligations’: Why Awaab’s Law creates new challenges for new-build contracts

Meanwhile, in a statement about learning from assessing risk failures, the ombudsman said landlords must consider individual household circumstances, including resident vulnerabilities, to prioritise investigations and repairs.

The watchdog also emphasised the importance of an ethical internal complaints procedure that provides genuine apologies and clear timeframes for how issues will be resolved to residents.

Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman, said: “The issues in these cases take months or even years to be addressed and in some cases are unresolved until we intervene. This is far from action happening within days or weeks, as would be expected now under Awaab’s Law.

“Understandably, there has been focus by landlords on meeting the timescales set out in the law. However, landlords should not lose sight of other requirements, such as effective inspections, providing suitable temporary moves and clear, empathetic communication. There is a risk of false assurance if governing bodies focus only on the tangible targets.”