Regulator of Social Housing concerned over rise in gas safety breaches

Today, the RSH published a report on the lessons learned from its damp and mould evidence-gathering undertaken earlier this year.

The report said a dozen landlords had referred themselves to the regulator, disclosing “a potential breach of the Home Standard due to damp and mould” since the coroner’s report into the death of Awaab Ishak.

“The majority of social landlords take damp and mould very seriously,” Ms MacGregor said.

“We’ve seen some really good examples of good practice in the sector, and an indication that there are some significant improvements that have been made” since the coroner’s report was published last year.

But, she added, “there will always be room for further improvement”.

Ms MacGregor said the RSH was hoping to launch a consultation in July on its revised consumer standards, as well as a draft code of practice for its forthcoming regime change.

On a different panel at the conference today, Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman, warned that “knowledge is too often avoidably lost” during mergers or stock transfers between housing associations.

“I, too often, see committed housing professionals let down by systems and data,” he said.

“It’s vital that those dedicated professionals stay in the sector, but there’s a real risk that they [will] leave unless this is addressed.”