Drawing on data from thousands of damp, condensation, and mould surveys, Cornerstone provides essential insights that must be acknowledged to avoid recurring errors and uphold Awaab’s Law
Firstly, the Housing Health & Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is a recognised process for defining a healthy home with key safety aspects noted and rectified. However, we need to accept that damp, condensation, and mould take time to develop; therefore, they are not an “instant-impact” characteristic that the HHSRS would recognise.
This key aspect alone has resulted in many remediations undertaken with the best intentions, leading to recognised re-spend events due to a disconnect between everyday atmospheric management and physical activities within a property.
SMART Knowledge
Awaab’s Law is a key process for managing property health, and armed with SMART Knowledge in recognisable formats, there is no greater opportunity to consider pressing the reset button for dealing with these annual issues.
What if an opportunity existed for replacing blame with “did you know?” aligned to everyday, simplistic and recognisable tasks that have been shown to improve living environments?
What if that process were available 24/7 to determine likely reasoning and provide smart assurances for timely actions?
Cornerstone is determined to assist the new law introduction by sharing its knowledge for all to reduce the timelines, offering advice for immediate concerns alongside simplistic (yet key) undertakings that will serve to reduce the impact level plus, align expert trade undertakings and expenditure with SMART Knowledge aimed at recognising their impact alongside credible guidance for occupants.
Promoting wellbeing serves to underpin landlord-tenant relations with a greater understanding of what, where and why, commencing with recognising that damp and mould are two separate issues.
Damp is generally associated with a physical problem, such as a leak, water ingress, or rising damp, whereby mould is a symptom that requires an understanding of the resultant pattern and its location in order to determine the root cause accurately.
Our task has been to create a unique platform with uniform deliverables inbuilt for immediate knowledge and undertakings by residents before a problem is escalated.
Indeed, if the process does not work, then details and images can be sent to a landlord for assessment via a more detailed onboard Knowledge Base.
Notably, Cornerstone will not remove its knowledge from the process. If assistance is required for complex cases or CPD training is a key requirement, we will utilise our expertise to secure a long-term solution.
In 2023, the government estimated that in social housing:
- 8,000 homes had the most serious damp and mould issues.
- 40,000-60,000 homes had serious damp and mould issues.
- 120,000-160,000 homes had noticeable damp and mould.
These figures suggest that many residents live with damp and mould daily, potentially leading to a perception that it is a “normal” environment.
However, while it is understood mould spores are in the air all the time, they can reside in certain areas of our homes that requires a greater understanding of where and why because, once established, they can continue to develop and release a greater number of spores into the internal atmosphere that will circulate the property, coming into contact with areas where there are optimum conditions, key nutrients available and a lack of being disturbed.
Our experience continues to show that, in the majority of cases, a key undertaking is to clean, remove, or paint over the mould. However, each one of these actions should not be started unless the root causes (there are always more than one) are diagnosed.
Additionally, cleaning mould requires specialised products, not bleach-related items, and removing it should be undertaken in a controlled manner to contain spore release, rather than spraying the outbreak. Mould should never be painted over because it can become dormant and readily redevelop if root causes persist.
The Property Health App
The Property Health App platform – a key recommendation by the Housing Ombudsman for dealing with these annual issues – serves to uphold noteworthy knowledge for all who embrace it with a “did you know?” service that, once understood, has shown to improve internal atmospheres and everyday living activities with recognisable traits, for example:
Did you know…
- All atmospheres contain a certain amount of moisture, both internal and external.
- Relative humidity alone does not indicate the level of dampness in an environment.
- High internal vapour pressure moves to areas of low vapour pressure, such that moisture generation in kitchens and bathrooms is redistributed to other areas of the building through open doors.
- Four to five people asleep for approximately eight hours generate between 1.3-1.6 litres of atmospheric moisture. Cooking can produce between 2.3 and 2.8 litres, and drying clothes can produce between four and five litres.
- Surface condensation is the most common cause of mould in the UK. However, it can grow on moisture-sensitive materials without condensation, ie leather, clothes, paper, etc.
- A musty or damp odour in a property suggests that mould is currently active and needs to be located.
- One cubic inch of mould can contain up to 10m spores.
- A condensation season is widely known as being between September and April, and roughly aligns with closed windows and heating requirements.
- Most moulds require between five and 12 days to proliferate under constant conditions.
- Removing mould with bleach does not remove the mycelium (root system), and it can regrow in a reduced amount of time.
- There is no “safe” level of mould spores in the atmosphere.
These are a selection of key recognitions that, alongside deliverables for each, uphold a common theme we hear of “I didn’t know that” from residents that can, and have, led to their own undertakings to aid the situation.
If you are looking to improve or develop your knowledge base for dealing with prevalent damp and mould scenarios, with a greater understanding, timely deliverables, and defined repair outcomes, contact Cornerstone now to discuss your requirements and how any assistance can be tailored to your organisation.
Services include:
• Unique Property Health App – sharing knowledge.
• Level 1 or Level 2 private survey data collection for a unique traffic-light outcome.
• Independent expert-level consultancy.
• Assistance with developing a damp, condensation and mould ventilation strategy.
• CPD-accredited damp, condensation, mould and ventilation training.
