Follow up: Spotlight on damp and mould – it’s not lifestyle
Published in February 2023
Report summary
Many landlords have engaged positively with the Spotlight report ‘It’s not lifestyle’, since its publication in October 2021. The report has been downloaded over 5,000 times.
Following the inquest into Awaab Ishak, the Ombudsman wrote an open letter to all landlords to reinforce the recommendations that were made in the Spotlight on damp and mould report.
We know that many landlords have been revising their approach to damp and mould. This update aims to provide further insights to landlords as they continue their work in this area and support to governing bodies when reviewing self-assessments against our 26 recommendations.
What is in the follow up report?
The follow up report:
- Sets out damp and mould data from our casework in 2021-22.
- Summarises the outcome of follow up work with a number of landlords to understand how they are implementing the recommendations, highlighting areas of best practice as well as identifying areas of continued concern.
- Contains some of the most salient lessons from our recent casework following a series of severe maladministration findings on damp and mould.
- Provides governing bodies with a set of 10 key factors that will influence the success of any action plan to support their scrutiny role.
The full report
The full report is available to view or download as a pdf.
View and download the full report pdf
Further learning on damp and mould
Damp and mould key topics page
Damp and mould is a reoccurring issue that continually arises in our case work.
Residents and landlords can use this page to find out more about this key topic including guidance, spotlight reports, and training options for landlords.
View more Spotlight reports
Spotlight report on damp and mould
Landlords must demonstrate to residents learning from damp and mould complaints. We encourage landlord staff and managers to review the case studies and learning in this report, actively consider how you would respond to the case and whether you would make the same mistakes.
Spotlight report on knowledge and information management
This report reveals how landlord’s services can be held back by weaknesses in data and information, that can turn an ordinary service request into an extraordinarily protracted complaint.
Spotlight on attitudes, respect and rights
We have released our latest Spotlight report on attitudes, respect and right - relationship of equals, calling for a Royal Commission to create a long-term plan for social housing after finding that current approaches for the sector are not working for residents with a vulnerability.