Hundreds of warnings issued by council for damp or mo...

A newspaper has discovered that over 1,500 warnings for damp or mould have been issued to landlords by just one city council over the past five years.

The total of 1,505 applies to private and social landlords combined, and is from Glasgow council in response to a Freedom of Information request by the Glasgow Herald.

Each warning is described is “an indication that a Statutory Nuisance exists as defined by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which could be detrimental to health.”

The Herald quotes the council as saying a significant number would have been served for common structural defects, such as a defective roof allowing water penetration into a property.

Various councils have in recent weeks issued advice to landlords about how to recognise and treat mould and damp, following the tragic case of Awaab Ishak who died in 2020, eight days after his second birthday, as a direct result of black mould in the social housing flat he lived in.

For example Broxtowe council is carrying out a survey to find out how prevalent damp and mould is in privately rented houses and how they can work with landlords and tenants to manage the risks that mould can cause. The council has set up a survey for tenants on the issue.

The Generation Rent campaign group says the latest English Housing Survey shows that 23 per cent of private rented homes fail decency standards, 14 per cent are unsafe, and 11 per cent have a damp problem.

The most recent English Housing Survey relates to 2021-22 and was published shortly before Christmas by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

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