Agenda item

The Interim Head of Housing introduced the report and explained that it was a very topical subject due to recent news stories and there were a number of things to be addressed. She provided the following update:

·       The cross over with the Cost of Living crisis meant that people were struggling to heat their homes and this contributed to damp and mould growth.

·       They were looking to revise the Damp and Mould Policy

·       They were investigating what proactive actions could be completed during the void process of a property.

·       They had set up a Working Group with Officers, Members and Tenant Representative to address damp and mould issues.

·       They were looking to categorise damp and mould issues by the level of the problem and the vulnerability of the household.

·       They had invested in monitoring equipment which provided live information on temperature, humidity and ventilation to SDC and tenants. Once the equipment had been in place long enough it could provide guidance to prevent damp and mould in those areas.

Councillor Fryer raised concerns with pre-paid meters and affordability for the tenants and questioned whether SDC repair staff had the knowledge to signpost tenants who required extra support. The Interim Head of Housing confirmed that was the case and they were also trained to alert the Housing Team if there were concerns for tenant’s welfare. The Housing Team could then signpost the tenant and provide support by way of food vouchers. In response to Councillor Fryer the Interim Head of Housing explained that they did not have a list of tenants on pre-paid meters. Before Christmas they had records of properties which had the gas capped, they visited each of those properties to complete a welfare check for the tenants.

In response to Councillor Baker, the Interim Head of Housing confirmed that health conditions such as asthma and age of tenants would come under household vulnerability and therefore would be prioritised as part of the categorisation process.

Councillor Patrick commended the effectiveness of Positive Input Ventilation (PIV) systems and questioned whether they could be used more widely. The Interim Head of Housing explained that in a lot of cases tenants either turned them off or blocked them up in an attempt to reduce costs.

The Interim Head of Housing gave the following answers in response to Councillor Green:

·       The time taken to resolve or improve a damp and mould issue was dependant on many factors such as severity, lifestyle, vulnerability of the household etc. and was therefore difficult to predict.

·       Where black mould spores were present and the tenant’s health was at risk, the Council would move quickly to address the issue or identify weather a priority move would be necessary.

·       Page 14 detailed the figures of complaints from 1 April 2022 – 19 January 2023. It was agreed to provide some comparable figures from earlier years outside of the meeting.

·       The Council was not waiting for the results of the Decent Home Standards Review to respond to damp and mould cases, there was already ongoing work with tenants to address issues however it needed to be mindful that the review was underway and could lead to further changes in the future. 

·       The Council did not blame tenants for damp and mould issues however a large amount of the resolution was to work with tenants to change lifestyle choices such as drying washing on a radiator.

In response to Mr Ritcher, Tenant Representative, the Interim Head of Housing explained that many of the properties within the Housing stock were older and were built with little ventilation options. The Retrofit project would help to improve energy efficiency within the properties which would ultimately help with affordability of fuel bills.

Councillor Patrick questioned whether damp and mould issues could be identified earlier and therefore resolved quicker and at less expense to the Council. The Interim Head of Housing explained that was something the new Working Group would be looking into.

Ms Adams, Tenant Representative explained that it was difficult for tenants to keep on top of the maintenance of a property with high levels of condensation and shared her own experiences. The Interim Head of Housing agreed to take her comments back to the team to see what other proactive steps could be taken by the Council.