One of Northern Ireland’s largest landlords has not seen ‘tsunami’ of disrepair claims, delegates told

Several social landlords in England reported a significant increase in damp and mould reports from tenants following the inquest into the death of Awaab Ishak. 

In November 2022, a coroner ruled that the two-year-old died from prolonged exposure to mould in a Rochdale Boroughwide Housing flat.

Inside Housing’s previous research found that disrepair claims rose exponentially for English councils between 2017-18 and 2020-21, while housing associations faced similar increases. 

It also understands that social landlords are still facing a significant number of claims. 

However, Ms Gray said: “We haven’t seen litigation as much, but we have definitely seen a rise in reports and formal complaints of damp, condensation and mould. People are saying, ‘How much is this exacerbating their health conditions?’”

She said Radius is trying to embed a culture of recording transactions. 

Ms Gray explained: “We’re trying to document every no access. Every time we’re going out, every time we send an asset officer they’ll ‘write to record’.

“To say, ‘We have said they’ll do this, you have said you’ll do this, and this is what we’re going to do to follow up’. It’s really making sure that we get other systems in place to record cases and make sure that we have the documentation.”

Earlier in the session, Ms Gray outlined Radius’s damp strategy. The landlord, which owns and manages more than 13,000 homes across Northern Ireland, is focusing on educating and empowering both staff and tenants on prevention and treatment of damp, while also understanding the condition of its stock.

In December, Radius trained 75% of its resident-facing staff on damp and mould and has been undertaking an awareness campaign for residents. 

Ms Gray said feedback from staff has been “really positive”, while the training has empowered housing officers to solve problems more easily.