A study commissioned by Zehnder revealed information regarding the amount of social housing that is being affected by mould
The study surveyed social housing landlords and tenants, asking whether and to what extent they were suffering from mould and/or condensation in their homes.
The results show that almost all (99.2%) landlords have mould in their housing stock, with 32% of tenants saying they have mould in 5-6 rooms.
One in ten landlords have mould in over half their houses
41% of landlords believe that the mould in their housing stock is simply because of the weather. Others believe that old buildings (36%), humidity (34%), condensation (28%), poor ventilation (23%), recent house insulation (22%), and general damp (17%) are root causes.
Furthermore, many landlords admitted to trying various methods to solve the mould but found that 51% of cases saw the mould come back, while 16% said the methods didn’t work at all, with the mould staying present.
64% of landlords reported feeling frustrated or angry, 57% worried and scared, and 30% feel embarrassed.
From the tenant side, 46% report having mould in 3-4 of their rooms, 32% have mould in 5-6 rooms, 12% have it in 1-2 rooms, and 1 in 10 report mould in 7-8 rooms.
40% reported mould only affecting wet rooms, i.e. the bathroom or shower room, while 32% report it in the main bedroom, 30% report mould in the dining room, 28% report it in children’s bedrooms, 25% in the living room, and 25% in the kitchen.
98% of tenants worry about their health with mould
The top concerns for social housing tenants were their health (21%) and the health of their children (21%), as well as mould affecting allergies (21%) and needing to clean constantly (21%).
The study also examines the key issues preventing effective remediation of mould in social housing, with landlords saying technology (37%), cost (36%), and lack of knowledge or understanding (31%). Others cite local authorities (29%) and lack of support (28%) as issues.
27% of landlords say that the occupants of the property are a barrier. The majority (98%) agree that a lack of education for occupants on how to live in their homes and keep condensation/vapour to a minimum, including drying washing indoors, turning off extractor fans, and keeping windows closed with no airflow.
28% of tenants have not sought help for their mould issues, and 83% have not asked their landlords about mould issues.
Zehnder RMI national manager, Mark Trowers, said: “While a third of landlords in our survey are approaching this widespread issue in the right way by installing better ventilation or calling in an expert (29%), others are following generalist advice that won’t solve the root cause of the problem, either temporarily fixing it, or not fixing it at all. These include applying an anti-fungicidal wash (28%), using an anti-mould spray (25%) or bleaching the area (24%). A quarter of landlords we surveyed claimed they asked the occupants to change their living habits, yet large numbers are still just washing it off with soapy water (21%) or painting over it (17%), so it isn’t surprising the mould comes back.
“Mould outbreaks are caused by excess moisture build up in the property and lack of adequate airflow to ventilate that moisture effectively, causing condensation to form on cold surfaces, turning water vapour into liquid. Routine activities such as boiling the kettle, cooking, bathing, showering and even breathing can produce significant amounts of water vapour – up to 24 pints per day for the average family. The conditions created by condensation provide the perfect environment for mould and mildew to develop – creating conditions for dampness and toxic black mould to take over and spread, which poses serious health risks to humans.
“In our study, over half of the tenants (54%) admitted to turning off the extract fans in their bathrooms and kitchen, which is often the only form of ventilation in the property. Yet the reasons for doing so are rooted in a lack of understanding, with 36% claiming heat loss from the fan, running costs (34%), noise (33%) and nearly a fifth (18%) claiming they just don’t need them.”
