London council’s damp and mould reports triple in a year

In an update this week, Clayeon McKenzie, cabinet member for housing services and resident participation, said: “Our pledge followed the tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak from prolonged exposure to mould in his family home in Rochdale, which rightly brought the issue into even sharper focus. 

“Damp and mould is an issue impacting all housing providers across the capital and the country as a whole. 

“However, we are not letting that stand in the way of our efforts to ensure you have a safe, warm and decent place to call home.

“While there is still much more to do to achieve our ambitions and meet the targets we have set ourselves, we have already made strides towards our goal.”

As part of the plan, the council launched a new service in January to speed up its response to reports of leaks. It set a target of visiting every leak reported by at least the end of the following day. 

Since it started, 1,130 emergency leak visits have been carried out in an average of 1.5 days. 

Mr McKenzie said that the number of emergency leaks reported has more than doubled since this time last year. 

“We are working towards ensuring we are able to respond to 80% of all reported leaks within our target from next month, including recruiting more plumbers,” he said. 

The council is also taking steps to inspect around 75% of reports of damp and mould within our five working days target from next month. 

It is carrying out inspections on Saturday mornings and is recruiting two new specialist officers to carry out the surveys to help towards achieving the inspection target.

The council has also re-evaluated the priority of all its disrepair cases and reports of damp and mould, to prioritise based on the “severity of each case and the age and health of the people living in the home”.

It has finalised plans to survey 20% of its homes this financial year, including specific assessments of damp and mould, prioritising blocks more likely to suffer from the issue.

It is also planning to increase the size of its in-house repairs team from 159 officers to 170, which will include a disrepair and damp and mould manager.

The council has also written to all housing associations across Hackney for information on the actions they are taking to tackle mould in their homes.

“The mayor is meeting with the chief executives on an ongoing basis to ensure they deliver on these,” Mr McKenzie said. 

Last month it emerged that Southwark Council had experienced a 200% increase in demand for its repairs service between November and April.