Building Defect Analysis

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Damp & Mould

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Joe Malone

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It’s not lifestyle

In October 2021, and following a spate of bad publicity in the press, the Housing Ombudsman Service released a paper titled “Damp & Mould: It’s not lifestyle.’ The intention was to send a clear message to registered housing providers that they could no longer blame condensation damp on tenant ‘lifestyle’ choices. A number of housing providers were found guilty of maladministration due to their poor handling of tenant complaints relating to damp and mould.

Damp & Mould
Paper contains a number of key recommendations

To my mind this was long overdue and even in a blog I wrote in 2015, I closed with the following comment, “Our own pragmatic view formed on the back of hundreds of damp surveys and numerous expert witness cases is that occupants cause humidity but buildings cause condensation.”

You can revisit that blog here: http://buildingdefectanalysis.co.uk/damp/the-condensation-trap/

Lifestyle Dogma

For many years I have seen many landlords deflect responsibility for damp and mould in their properties by responding with the classic default response, which is that condensation damp is primarily caused by tenant lifestyle choices. They are boiling pans, bathing, drying washing indoors, and god forbid, even breathing; all activities, which of course, generate humidity. As I constantly say, humidity and condensation are two very different things, and high humidity levels do not necessarily lead to issues of cold surface condensation. Despite these comments, for decades, many landlords have had a stock response which generally advises tenants to take some or all of the following actions:

  1. Put lids on pans when cooking
  2. Turn up the heating
  3. Open windows
  4. Don’t dry washing indoors
  5. Move furniture away from walls to improve air circulation
  6. Ensure spaces are left between clothing items in the wardrobe

Any of these advisory items sound familiar? Of course these advisories have little or no positive impact and these issues often drag on for many months or even years, because the underlying technical issues are not placed as primary considerations.

Tenant told for 6 Years that it was her Lifestyle

A few years back I addressed a case in Birmingham, where a tenant had suffered from damp & mould for 6 years. Her personal belongings were damaged by mould, and yet over a 6 year period, her landlord told her that it was caused by her lifestyle choices. Action was finally taken by the landlord when the tenant chose to get a solicitor involved. I investigated this issue and on attending noted substantial mould and damp in the property. However, it was clear to me that the property was affected by flood damage and the tenant was immediately decanted to another property.

In fact, I found that the shower tray waste was not even connected, and over a six year period, the floor below the shower tray was saturated every time the tenant took a shower. Of course this led to condensation and mould due to saturated building fabric losing moisture by evaporation, which drove up internal humidity levels.

Leaking waste to to shower tray

This was not a difficult problem to investigate, yet the dogma was so deeply ingrained that ‘mould equals lifestyle’ and the landlord failed to take reasonable or timely action to properly investigate this issue.

Housing Ombudsman Guidance

The Housing Ombudsman paper has already caused something of a panic amongst registered housing providers, because it provides a clear table of actions which need to be taken by registered providers, these include:

  1. Landlords adopting a zero tolerance approach to damp and mould.
  2. Writing a clear damp policy or framework covering landlords approach to complaint management and damp diagnosis.
  3. Identify what diagnostic skills are required in-house, and where external independent expertise is needed.
  4. Ensure staff have the ability and tools to carry out damp diagnosis
  5. Banishing the word ‘lifestyle’ from the vernacular.

In fact, the paper contains a total of 26 recommendations and has understandably caused a stir of activity. I am currently engaged in a project for a large Registered Provider in the Northwest, to assess how they currently perform in responding to damp complaints, and to assess what actions need to be taken in order to comply with Housing Ombudsman guidance. This is one of the more pro-active RP’s, and in fact I’ve already trained staff there on two occasions, also ensuring that their employer provides the right tools and diagnostic equipment to ensure technical staff are competent in this area.

I’ve been training housing staff in damp investigation for many years, and of course have also seen a significant increase in the number of damp training courses booked, since this paper was released. Historically, the most interesting part of any training session for me, is witnessing the change in stubborn ingrained belief systems, relating to the causes of condensation damp and mould.

Other Legislation

You may not have heard of the Housing Ombudsman, but their paper is of major significance because it is mandatory for all local authorities and registered social housing providers to be members of the Ombudsman Scheme. They also have several private landlords and letting agents who have joined voluntarily.

For those landlords not signed up to the scheme, other legislation exists relevant to tenants being provided with accommodation that is free from damp and mould. In particular, the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018; legislation designed to ensure that Landlords rent out properties that are secure, safe, warm and dry. If rented houses and flats are not ‘fit for human habitation’, tenants can take their landlords to court. The court can make the landlord carry out repairs or put right health and safety problems. The court can also make the landlord pay compensation to the tenant.

Unfortunately, as I write this, even a cursory examination of damp and mould guidance, provided to tenants by registered housing providers, shows that many are still placing the blame and responsibility for condensation damp and mould on tenants and I can only echo the Housing Ombudsman’s view, a view formed from many years of investigating these problems… ‘It’s not lifestyle.’

10 responses to “Damp & Mould”

  1. Anonymous avatar
    Anonymous

    Whilst I have no truck with bad landlords, I would be interested in your comments on the following situation. My mother lived for ten years in a 1950s brick-built ground floor flat with concrete floors, and modern central heating and double glazing. We lined the external walls with 6mm thermal lining as the walls were cold, and this did make the flat warmer. She had no problem before or after we did this with condensation. After she died we let the flat, and two years later at the end of the tenancy, we found it covered in black mould. The tenant had never complained, but we gathered he was a bit of a recluse who never opened the windows.

    We have now sold the flat, but as a landlord, I am not sure what more we could have done. The freeholder could not insulate the outside walls, as the building was in a conservation area, and to provide more effective internal insulation, we would have had to gut the flat. There does seem to be a lifestyle element to this condensation, but I would be very interested to hear your opinion, and how you would have dealt with it in this case.

    Reply
    1. Joe Malone avatar
      Joe Malone

      Hi Michelle,

      You have already outlined that this was a brick built flat, and with the build date (1950’s) then I think it’s safe to assume that this was a cavity walled property, I’m guessing with a minimum 50mm wall cavity, so the first question to ask is whether or not the cavity walls were insulated, and if so how well was this cavity wall insulation installed? That may take thermal imaging and even borescope inspection of the wall cavity. Well installed CWI will improve thermal efficiency and increase internal wall surface temperatures. thermal lining of 6mm falls well short of the upgrade in thermal insulation that would be required to address this problem. If there was no wall cavity, then internal wall insulation would need installing.

      I’d then be looking to assess ventilation in the property. You have not mentioned this but were there continuous running extractor fans in the property? Were extractor fans installed at all?

      If an efficient and fully controllable heating was installed, then you can often have little impact on how often the tenant uses their heating system, though you can provide advice on using heating in the correct manner.

      As I always say, there is no test to prove that condensation is caused by ‘lifestyle’ so we work backwards, investigating thermal efficiency, heating and ventilation. In almost all cases there are issues and failings in each of these three areas. If thorough investigation proves that the landlord has complied with each of these three technical requirements, then by default it must be a lifestyle issue. However, I do not consider cooking, breathing, bathing or drying washing indoors to be unreasonable behaviour and I’ve encountered only two issues of lifestyle related condensation damp in the last ten years, one case where a small house was severely over occupied and another where the lady was running an unvented tumble dryer in the lounge. The vast majority of properties affected by condensation damp and mould are remedied by attending to short comings in insulation, ventilation or heating.

      Regards. Joe Malone

      Reply
      1. Anonymous avatar
        Anonymous

        I agree that the property could be thermally improved Joe, although the walls were not cavity walls, so cavity insulation was not an option. However, the point I was making that in the same flat, with identical conditions, one occupier had condensation and one did not,

        Reply
        1. Joe Malone avatar
          Joe Malone

          Hi Michelle,

          Let’s assume that the property was for many years occupied by only one person with no issues of condensation damp or mould. The property is sold to a couple who within weeks of moving in start to experience issues with condensation and mould. They’re using their heating no different to the last occupant but clearly there is more cooking taking place, more showers and of course more moisture being exhaled. However, despite the problems the occupants are not actually behaving any more unreasonably than the last occupant. The default position may be that these new occupants must now be responsible for the damp problems but this is rarely the case. The property would not be considered as being over-occupied but the increase in occupants has raised internal relative humidity enough to highlight the buildings thermal bridging issues. Perhaps the next occupant doesn’t use the heating? There isn’t a lot you can do about this but a well insulated property is unlikely to suffer from damp and mould. A change in tenancy does not prove an occupancy related issue and as a landlord you can never fully understand those occupancy levels without full time monitoring of the property. It’s easy to say, one tenant in, and one out, but does the next tenant have friends, family or partners staying regularly… This isn’t a question you can easily answer, but unless the property is over occupied then lifestyle is rarely to blame.

          Regards. Joe Malone

          Reply
  2. Kiradog avatar
    Kiradog

    First what does Life Style mean? To me in this context it means the way people live and occupy a property.
    It’s not lifestyle statement is wrong and very wrong. This is not to say that all occupants should shoulder some sort of blame but we must remember people a complex and some habits encourage condensation. I have a customer who has complex issues due to mental capacity. He does not use his bedroom and sleeps on a chair in the living room. There are working extractors in the kitchen and bathroom with a PIV in the hall. This is a one bedroomed bungalow. The property has significant condensation issue in all but the bedroom the only room he does not use. I asked him how often he goes into the bedroom and he stated once or twice a month if that. After a clean down the mould continued to grow during the hot weather we have had in 2022. this shows its not a insulation issue. there are no repair issues and no service leaks, none of the adjoining bungalows have any damp or mould issues. They are all fitted with the same windows, loft insulation, extraction and PIV. The only difference is the occupant and the way he lives or to put it another way Life style. This is just one case that I’m aware of and I manage over 30,thousand properties.
    Now we are facing an energy crisis people will reduce the heating of their homes increasing the risk of condensation. I’m expecting a significant rise in reports of damp and mould. The buildings will not have changed but the way people live will have. In other words their life style will have changed.
    It is undeniable that the way people live (Lifestyle) has a significant effect on damp and condensation. It clear that no one is prepared to say so encase they offend someone or to challenge current popular opinion.
    Lifestyle is a factor regardless of what the Ombudsman state.

    Reply
    1. Joe Malone avatar
      Joe Malone

      Hi,

      I would make three points in relation to your post…

      1. You make an argument from authority, in stating that you manage over 30,000 properties; well I’ve been in your position, apart from the fact that I managed over 50,000 properties. An argument from authority is never a strong argument and neither statement supports any of the points made.

      2. You state that you have both extractor fans installed and a PIV system… Extractors trying to create a negative pressure in the property, whilst the PIV is designed to create a positive pressure… Do you see the problem here?

      3. You say there are no technical issues and I’ve already identified one just from your email; I suspect I’d identify many more if I were to visit this property. However, no one disagrees that lifestyle can be a contributary factor, but my own position is that lifestyle issues are incredibly rare. As a landlord, the answer is simple, prove you have adequate levels of insulation, an effective mechanical extraction system and an efficient and fully controllable heating system, then any remaining issues must be provably attributable to lifestyle.

      Regards

      Joe Malone

      Reply
      1. Kiradog avatar
        Kiradog

        In response to you response

        1. Managing 30k or 50k properties is irrelevant, my remarks come not from a point of authority as you stated but from many many years of experience visiting homes both in social housing and private properties.

        2. No I don’t see the problem here. Extractors have minimal impact on the effectiveness of a PIV as the PIV runs constantly and the extractors only run occasionally. Even if the extractors run for 4 hours a day (which is unlikely) the PIV would be running at 100% for 20hrs. The extractor would be drawing from the areas that produce high volumes of humidity quickly for short periods so are appropriate. For the rest of the time a will PIV protect the rest of a property so again is appropriate.

        3 I do except that some properties have issues due to lack of ventilation, insulation, construction types as well as maintenance issues. In this case I used the loft has 300mm insulation the wall have CWI and the windows and doors have been install in the last 5 years. The property has no maintenance issues. However in my experience lifestyles are a major contributing factor to mould. These issues including but not limited to drying clothes on radiators, not opening windows, covering trickle vents, poor hygiene & cleanliness of a property. These are issue that my team and I experience every day and not just occasionally.

        We are now monitoring mould issues when people move to identify if mould issues move with them or not and if incoming customer have the same issues. Its more complex than it looks on the face of that comment as there are a lot of variables but it may or may not provide some useful data, time will tell.

        I stand by everything I stated in my first post and repeat the last line: Lifestyle is a factor regardless of what the Ombudsman state

        Reply
  3. Joe Malone avatar
    Joe Malone

    Hi, I’ll respond directly below each point you have made…

    1. Managing 30k or 50k properties is irrelevant, my remarks come not from a point of authority as you stated but from many many years of experience visiting homes both in social housing and private properties.

    Response: Well why mention it then if not for any other reason than to suggest that the number of properties speaks to your superior experience… experience does not equal competence when it comes to investigating damp properties. Perhaps you can tell us what diagnostic equipment you take with you on inspecting these homes? You stated in your previous response; “After a clean down the mould continued to grow during the hot weather we have had in 2022. this shows its not a insulation issue.” This is a very odd statement to make and in fact the reverse is true, it’s almost a certainty that you have insulation issues in areas where the mould is growing because those areas have likely been below dew point, and hence subject to cold surface condensation for mould to occur.

    2. No I don’t see the problem here. Extractors have minimal impact on the effectiveness of a PIV as the PIV runs constantly and the extractors only run occasionally. Even if the extractors run for 4 hours a day (which is unlikely) the PIV would be running at 100% for 20hrs. The extractor would be drawing from the areas that produce high volumes of humidity quickly for short periods so are appropriate. For the rest of the time a will PIV protect the rest of a property so again is appropriate.

    Response: So what about continuous running extractor fans, running 24 hours a day? Perhaps you can also point us to the research that proves that extractor fans and PIV work effectively when combined in a property? Or is that just your personal opinion? Amusingly, you subtract the 4 hours that the extractor fan would be running, to assert that the PIV, (running 24 hours a day) would at least be effective for 20 hours when combined with an extractor running at your arbitrary 4 hours a day. It seems quite literally as though you are formulating your argument as you go.

    3 I do except that some properties have issues due to lack of ventilation, insulation, construction types as well as maintenance issues. In this case I used the loft has 300mm insulation the wall have CWI and the windows and doors have been install in the last 5 years. The property has no maintenance issues. However in my experience lifestyles are a major contributing factor to mould. These issues including but not limited to drying clothes on radiators, not opening windows, covering trickle vents, poor hygiene & cleanliness of a property. These are issue that my team and I experience every day and not just occasionally.

    Response: How much cavity wall insulation and would that comply with current U-value requirements? What type of CWI, blown fibre? I’ve not yet seen a single occasion where blown fibre cavity wall insulation has been well installed, to the extent that it fully fills the wall cavity. You state that, “in my experience lifestyles are a major contributing factor to mould. These issues including but not limited to drying clothes on radiators, not opening windows, covering trickle vents.” Do you think drying clothes indoors is unreasonable behaviour? If so what about those properties with no outside drying space? Do you think that opening windows in winter is a good idea, whilst at the same time criticising tenants for not using their heating as much as they did, due to fuel prices? At any one time in the whole of the UK, we may have circa 15% of the total housing stock affected by some form of damp, the majority of that 15% suffering from the most common form of damp, condensation. In that 85% of unaffected stock, we have tenants and home owners all replicating the ‘unreasonable’ behaviours you describe, drying washing indoors, not opening windows etc. Yet despite these actions, the majority of housing stock is unaffected by the same behaviours you would describe as unreasonable. Do you want to assert that 85% of inhabitants live their life worrying about and constantly managing their own humidity output?

    We are now monitoring mould issues when people move to identify if mould issues move with them or not and if incoming customer have the same issues. Its more complex than it looks on the face of that comment as there are a lot of variables but it may or may not provide some useful data, time will tell.

    Response: No, it won’t provide anything but anecdotal evidence, evidence that essentially proves nothing but provides landlords with a spurious basis for asserting that the damp and mould is caused by tenants.

    I stand by everything I stated in my first post and repeat the last line: Lifestyle is a factor regardless of what the Ombudsman state

    Response: You actually seem to have diluted claims from your original post. I for one, never claimed that lifestyle was not a ‘factor’. You claimed that, “It is undeniable that the way people live (Lifestyle) has a significant effect on damp and condensation. It clear that no one is prepared to say so encase they offend someone or to challenge current popular opinion.”

    No, the way people live rarely has any significant effect on damp and mould; as I repeatedly say, tenants cause humidity but buildings cause condensation. Oh, and from my experience, people are prepared to offend someone and even challenge current popular opinion when posting anonymously.

    Regards

    Joe Malone

    Reply
    1. Andrew Warrior avatar
      Andrew Warrior

      You are commenting on assumption, particularly on details such as type of CWI. which we do not install blown fibre. Our thermal imaging camera shows the effectiveness of our CWI installation.
      If you are as bright as you think you are you would know it is very unlikely retrofit CWI would ever improve a wall to meet current U Values (0.18 W/m²K) as the R value of the insulation is restrictive.
      I was advised by our extractor/PIV provider that the humidistat controlled extractors draw so little air when ticking over it has no effect on PIV’s following their extensive research.
      The wash down was carried out before we were asked to attend.
      Clothes should be dried on a clothes horse or in a tumble dryer (at cost) not radiators these are for heating the room.
      Your comment. Do you want to assert that 85% of inhabitants live their life worrying about and constantly managing their own humidity output? This is a total simplification but yes. I would go into it but you know best.
      Yes from time to time open windows in winter and I did not criticising tenants for not using their heating as much as they did. They don’t but that’s not a criticism
      I’ve never said that buildings are not the issue but lifestyle is as well AND IT IS.

      After reading your posts I can only conclude that you only have read information and data and have NEVER been out to surveys in social housing.

      Just like you I’m happy to offend, challenge and challenge current popular opinion when they are wrong, as I’m not a sheep. Popular opinion was that asbestos was a great product. mmm how wrong.
      Regards
      Andrew Warrior

      Reply
      1. Joe Malone avatar
        Joe Malone

        Hi Andrew,

        I’ll respond directly below each point you have made…

        1. You are commenting on assumption, particularly on details such as type of CWI. which we do not install blown fibre. Our thermal imaging camera shows the effectiveness of our CWI installation.
        If you are as bright as you think you are you would know it is very unlikely retrofit CWI would ever improve a wall to meet current U Values (0.18 W/m²K) as the R value of the insulation is restrictive.

        Response: No, I’m making the simple point that irrespective of retrofit CWI, the property will fall short of current U value requirements. You at least get that, but don’t appear to get that there is any obligation to raise those standards where a property is plagued by condensation damp and mould.

        2. I was advised by our extractor/PIV provider that the humidistat controlled extractors draw so little air when ticking over it has no effect on PIV’s following their extensive research.
        The wash down was carried out before we were asked to attend.

        Response: So you were advised by a company with a vested interest in selling PIV that having an extractor fan creating a negative pressure in a space containing PIV which is trying to create a positive pressure is perfectly fine ‘following their extensive research.’ Research results in academic papers and not sales brochures.

        Clothes should be dried on a clothes horse or in a tumble dryer (at cost) not radiators these are for heating the room.

        Response: You know that even condensing dryers generate humidity? Non-condensing dryers are far worse. Whether on a clothes horse or on a radiator, the best advice is to simply dry clothes in a room containing a running extractor fan.

        Your comment. Do you want to assert that 85% of inhabitants live their life worrying about and constantly managing their own humidity output? This is a total simplification but yes. I would go into it but you know best.

        Response: Not over simplification, just pure fact. Most home owners or tenants don’t ever consider their living habits or how they should manage moisture and humidity in their home, yet they don’t suffer condensation damp and mould.

        Yes from time to time open windows in winter and I did not criticising tenants for not using their heating as much as they did. They don’t but that’s not a criticism
        I’ve never said that buildings are not the issue but lifestyle is as well AND IT IS.

        Response: Would you like to elaborate… What exactly does from time to time mean and what impact does opening windows (uncontrolled ventilation) have on your controlled ventilation (PIV or extractors)? Controlled ventilation is critical but uncontrolled ventilation causes transient condensation.

        After reading your posts I can only conclude that you only have read information and data and have NEVER been out to surveys in social housing.

        Response: A rather bizarre statement given the site you posted on, but I’m keen to understand why you think social housing is any different to private housing? For clarity, I not only carry out surveys in social housing, I train social housing staff in the damp investigation process and carry out expert witness work for damp and disrepair. I asked earlier what diagnostic equipment you take to site during your survey work but noted that you have avoided that question.

        Just like you I’m happy to offend, challenge and challenge current popular opinion when they are wrong, as I’m not a sheep. Popular opinion was that asbestos was a great product. mmm how wrong.

        Response: I’d say that current popular opinion is still that lifestyle is primarily responsible for condensation damp and mould, though thankfully, that is starting to change. You aren’t advocating for change you are stubbornly resisting it, so I find it difficult to understand how you see yourself as a pioneer who is far removed from the flock.

        Regards

        Joe Malone

        Reply

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