Addressing Damp and Mould Issues in Housing Sector: Insights and Recommendations

Change in culture is vital to address damp and mould issues in the housing sector. Recommendations include adopting a zero tolerance culture, focusing on proactive responsibility, treating people fairly, and implementing effective communication strategies. The sector has responded with specialist contractors, dedicated portals for issue reporting, and innovative solutions. Areas of concern involve euphemisms for lifestyle, unrealistic resident expectations, and lack of engagement. Priorities for action include transparency, dignity, and good governance. Contact Housing Ombudsman for guidance and support.

• Damp and Mould
• Housing Sector
• Culture Change
• Recommendations
• Specialist Contractors

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1. Its not lifestyle - A year on Alan Park Compliance & System Manager

2. Change in culture needed Taking Reactive Proactive Inferring blame responsibility Fatalism Zero tolerance Resident-focused Fabric-focused

3. Key recommendations Zero tolerance culture Take Focus on the fabric Proactive responsibility Treat people fairly Damp and mould strategy Find your silence Check net zero plans Record keeping Empower staff Proactive communication strategy Know your stock Use the complaints process Know your residents

4. How has the sector responded? Specialist contractors Specific activity during the void period Humidity and temperature sensors Dedicated portals for residents to report issues Damp, mould and condensation dashboards

5. Areas of concern Euphemisms for lifestyle Advice considered sufficient Unrealistic expectations of residents Lack of engagement

6. Priorities areas for action Hiding behind legal proceedings Dignity, respect and fairness Good governance

7. Contact us 0300 111 3000 info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk @HousingOmbuds Housing-Ombudsman Sign up for our e-newsletter on our website

8. The Housing Ombudsman Service - special webinar on damp and mould Coastline Housing Louise Beard - Deputy CEO (with responsibility for Housing, Assets and Communities)

9. Damp and Mould Coastlines Approach Know your stock 5 year cycle of stock condition surveys assess all 29 aspects of the Housing Health and Safety Rating system criteria, including damp/mould and excess cold Survey process photographs the home and proactively looks for property defects Participation in Technology/data project Smartline

10. Smartline Project Case Study Customer support Temperature drop Circumstances had changed Loss of income Discussion with customer Online funding applied for Home visit Hardship payment made Heating restored

11. Damp and Mould Know Your Customers Damp and mould surveys are embedded All enquiries from customers result in an action raised on our CRM system for a specialist survey Great Customer response Speedy interventions Cleansing & treatment Improved Ventilation Ongoing Monitoring

12. Customer Scrutiny and Mystery Shop Customer Voice have completed a scrutiny review a final report in November 2021 Mystery shop against recommendations Oct 2022 Website page, information and customer videos https://www.coastlinehousing.co.uk/ content/damp-and-mould

13. Tackling Damp and Mould Sarah Seeger @SarahSeegerBris March 2023

14. What's the relative risk to health of damp and mould? Damp and Mould 0% 1% 10% 89% Outcome from all adverse eventsLegionella Gas Extreme Severe Serious Moderate 0% 1% 9% 90% 1.20% 2.30% 41.40% 55.10% Likelihood of causing harm 1/720,000 1/83,000 1/464 But Due to frequency For 5k homes this equates to; One every 140 years 16 years 10 per year

15. How customers navigate fuel poverty 15% of customers only heat one room Customers often do the following to cut back on heating costs (could choose multiple options): No of response s % Monthly heating costs per type of heating Overdress or use blankets during the day 605 48% Turn the heating off to keep down costs, even when it s too cold in my home 580 46% 0.4 0.35 Cut back on baths/hot water 316 25% 0.3 Stay in bed rather than get up to keep warm 227 18% 0.25 Other 211 17% 0.2 0.15 Only have the heating on when my kids are up 175 14% 0.1 Cut back on cooking 137 11% 0.05 Rely on plug-in heaters as it s cheaper to warm just one room 0 136 11% 160 to 180 >260 <20 20 to 40 40 to 60 60 to 80 100 to 120 120 to 140 140 to 160 180 to 200 200 to 220 220 to 240 240 to 260 80 to 100 Go out more than I normally would 104 8% Just use the gas fire and keep the radiators off as it s cheaper to warm just one room Just use the open fire and keep the radiators off as it s cheaper to warm just one room Rely on Calor or paraffin heaters as it s cheaper to warm just one room 21 2% 15 1% Gas Boiler Electric storage heaters 12 1%

16. Customers told us why cold or damp can affect them 49%/41% report that someone in the home has a disability or health condition that is worsened by cold or damp conditions

17. And how it affects them Ask about health when you triage a case 22% of customers where someone in the house has a disability or health condition that is worsened by cold or damp conditions have reported severe condensation or mould in their home.

18. Led to demand steady, costs increasing Volume by Year Costs Year on Year 2000 600,000 1800 Legacy system data 1600 500,000 1400 400,000 1200 Legacy system data 1000 300,000 800 600 200,000 400 100,000 200 0 0

19. Have we been effective? Have we done any work to your home to tackle the condensation or mould? We had already completed work in 83 homes still reporting a problem What is your definition of done? 350 300 250 200 150 100 22 Customers reporting a severe problem have not told us 50 0 Yes-Worked well Yes-Partially solved Severe Yes-Still a problem No-reported No-not reported Manageable

20. Uncomfortable truths Customers crave personal accountability from us We haven t recorded the root causes of D&M and so have no build- type intelligence, or programmes to address it Trades colleagues want to do more but have felt stifled. Poor conditions will make and keep people chronically sick The absence of a customer journey, visibility and specific scrutiny has led to a breakdown in trust and confidence you cant manage this on an order book Inability to diagnose correctly and remedy has led to apathy and lifestyle issue being made the default answer in the absence of proper explanation. This has become a cultural norm. Everyone has underestimated the role that poverty plays. Poverty must not become the new default conclusion

21. How do we fix this? Workstreams identified; View of history for colleagues Live data, dashboard & algorithm build Diagnostic equipment Team structure Remote monitoring D&M Policy Tackling fuel poverty and meter capping Customer comms & information Electronic pre and post inspection form with data capture Skills matrix, training and culture whole business approach Triage at first call Categorisation and system flags E2E workflow and case management KPI s, performance management & MI Support for trades (tech, training, equipment) Equipment for customers Audit, assurance and QA Ongoing insight to inform investment Virtual inspections Complaint handling Joined up thinking investment, servicing and new homes Voids, lettings and mutual exchange Automation and efficiencies Contractor portal Decarbonisation

22. New stuff. BI dashboard creates a news feed for each home can get to the facts quickly! Electronic before and after surveys with data capture for algorithm to build predictive model all provided to customer Triage and risk rating property and person combined E2E workflow for case-management don t manage by works orders

23. Transition. Its been hard! Keep watching your complaints Focus now is on E2E time Colleague training for contact centre, dedicated IVR Using stock condition team to help out, plus additional surveyor resource Looking at alternatives to our DLO for mould washes Reorganised admin teams into a single property admin hub it has a dedicated team with oversight of orders and 3rd party contractors lots more checking in and chasing

24. Next Up. Asset investment