Agenda item

RESOLVED:

To note the Council’s approach to damp and mould in council homes and the private rented sector.

The Executive Mayor considered the Council Approach to Damp and Mould report which detailed the Council’s approach to manage damp and mould in council properties and the private rented sector in response to the directive from the Secretary of State for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing & Communities and the Regulator of Social Housing.

The Executive Mayor addressed on the commitment he made to invest in and improve standards in council homes and put residents at the heart of decisions about the housing service. He noted that improving the housing stock would take time to achieve.

Additionally, earlier this year the Secretary of State for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing & Communities announced Awaab’s Law, following the tragic death of two-year-old, Awaab Ishak. In response, new legislation required Social Landlords to fix damp and mould issues within a strict timescale. The report detailed the Council’s wider approach to managing damp and mould in council properties and the private rented sector in line with Awaab’s Law and provided detailed stock conditions.

The Statutory Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Homes, Councillor Hale informed Cabinet that the report provided an update for the council’s progress in responding to the recent national directives regarding the management of damp and mould in the council homes and private sector. A damp and mould task force met weekly with other services for joint work, providing a proactive approach to ensure damp and mould appropriately and effectively reported as a serious risk to health and safety. There was also zero tolerance approach to resolve high levels of damp and mould in private sectors.

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Homes, Councillor Reshekaron noted that the report was silent on the engagement with the residents and requested for more information on how the council tenants and representatives from housing association and private sector tenants and partners would be involved going forward.

In response, the Corporate Director for Housing, Susmita Sen, informed Cabinet that the housing association were landlords and were responsible for tackling damp and mould for their homes; additionally, the service was working closely with the private sector team. Council would refer tenants to their landlord to assist on their issue and would only intervene through the environmental health team if action was not addressed by their landlord.

The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor King noted that the Secretary of State announced the plans to set timeframes for landlords to investigate necessary repairs which the suggested timeframe was fourteen days to commence work, and queried on what proportion of the work began within fourteen days of notice.

In response, the Damp and Mould Manager, Jolene Lorraine responded that the council aimed to attend all properties within six working days to carry out a mould wash and conduct a whole house inspection, before the remedial work.

The Executive Mayor thanked the team and staff for work they have carried out.

The Executive Mayor in Cabinet RESOLVED:

To note the Council’s approach to damp and mould in council homes and the private rented sector.