Our ongoing commitment to dealing with damp and mould

In December 2022, we provided a report to the Regulator of Social Housing on how many of our homes had cases of damp and mould.

Posted | 4 August 2023

In December 2022, we provided a report to the Regulator of Social Housing on how many of our homes had cases of damp and mould. To date, the majority of repairs have been completed for our customers, making sure our homes are safe and healthy spaces. There are still a number of homes where we’ve not been able to gain access but we continue to put significant effort into getting into these properties to support our customers.

Nothing is more important to us than our customers having a healthy home to live in, and that they feel listened to if they raise a concern. That’s why we’ve significantly invested in this area of work to make changes to this crucial issue and below you can find out how these efforts have helped us to tackle damp and mould in all of our homes.

In September 2022, we created our dedicated Healthy Homes team to proactively resolve our properties' damp, mould, and disrepair cases. When damp and mould is reported our team will inspect all cases within 5 working days of the initial report to identify the cause of the damp and mould. Repairs identified will be completed in line with our repairs policy.

For 2023/24 we’ve set aside a total of £5 million to tackle this issue for customers. This includes our Healthy Homes team continuing to offer urgent support for those concerned about damp and mould and also our proactive work to prevent issues in homes we’ve identified most at risk. This would include increased ventilation, window replacements and more.

Our new ways of working

In addition to the introduction of our Healthy Home team we:

Introduced our new Damp and Mould Policy setting out our commitment to customers
We inspect and understand the root cause of damp and mould within 5 working days of it being reported to us
We complete remedial work to resolve damp and mould in line with our repairs policy
We undertake follow up surveys to ensure the remedial work has been effective
Where severe damp and mould hazard is identified, customers will be temporarily moved while repairs are completed

• Provided specialist damp, mould and condensation training to all surveyors and our repairs management team.

• Report our monthly damp, mould and condensation case numbers to our Board and include these in our performance figures, as part of our commitment to being open and transparent.

• Launched our new Neighbourhood Model providing every customer with a named, easy to contact Neighbourhood Officer across all our areas.

Neighbourhood Officer carries out annual Tenancy Experience visits to all customers’ homes to further help identify any issues, such as damp and mould, that haven’t already been reported.

• Provide drop-ins within our community hubs adding to the number of ways our customers can contact us about issues

• Launched ‘See It. Say It.’ campaign to encourage all colleagues to proactively report cases of damp, mould, condensation or disrepair in our homes and communal spaces.

All reports go to the Healthy Homes team, Director of Homes, and Head of Repairs on the day report so we can take action as soon as possible.

Quick and simple reporting and communications

We’ve made it really easy for you to report damp, mould and condensation via
- Email to our Healthy Homes Team
- Customer Service Centre
- Via Neighbourhood Officer
- Local drop in centre
- Using our website
- Social media channel (Facebook, Instagram or Twitter)
We don’t just wait for our customers to contact us, we have all eyes looking to identify issues, with our:
- Neighbourhood Officer Tenancy Experience visits, getting through all customers doors on an annual basis and reporting any issues not yet reported
- Our ‘See It. Say It’ campaign. We have over 100 colleagues visiting homes each day. All our teams are trained to keep an eye out and proactively report issues around damp, mould or disrepair
We regularly update our comms channels and in April 2023 launched our new website with information related to damp and mould can be found and easily translated into any language or read out loud using Recite me.

Listening to customers

We will continue being proactive and are constantly looking for ways to improve our approach to tackling damp and mould. We’re currently updating our Damp and Mould policy in line with consultation with over 90 customers and we also have our biggest ever customer consultation coming up soon called the Big Listen.

Big Listen

Throughout August and September, we’re hosting the One Manchester Big Listen, a new campaign and designed to listen to and understand your views on our current repairs service.

Your feedback will help us carry out a thorough review of our current repairs service, which will include how we tackle damp and mould, and will be central in how we re-design our service. We will be implementing our new repairs offer from April 2024.

Report Damp and Mould

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