David Bookbinder: Navigating the political correctness around damp and mould

Let’s get right to the point. When it comes to damp and mould, there absolutely IS a lifestyle issue which can make some cases really tricky to manage. But the mere mention of this is somehow seen to be suggesting that social landlords don’t take reports of damp seriously.

What befell Awaab Ishak in 2020 remains shocking to this day. We know we must guard against complacency, but I just can’t believe any social landlord in Scotland would fail to visit after a report of potentially harmful damp and mould, regardless of what the landlord might suspect is the reason behind it.

But such a failure did happen in Rochdale, with the most appalling of outcomes, and now we all have to live with the consequences as the law understandably tightens up across the UK.

In a welcome move, the Scottish Government has been seeking early views on the detail of the new law which, assuming it is soon enshrined in the forthcoming Housing Act, looks like being introduced in March 2026. We have a chance to make the process as sensible as possible in the circumstances.

As community-based associations, our members have a great track record of carrying out repairs quickly and effectively. If Scotland follows the timescales in the proposed English guidance for social landlords, I don’t think this’ll mean any significant change in how reports of damp and mould are acted on in practice, but there’ll be transparency for tenants and everyone else, so that’s all good.

Housing and maintenance officers across the land, though, know that the challenge will be dealing with those cases where damp and mould recur on a regular basis despite the landlord having – at significant expense – exhausted all means of trying to identify a building-related issue. Addressing tenant behaviours can be incredibly challenging, and in some cases tenants may have significant mental health or other support issues, adding to the complexity landlords face in responding appropriately.

The English guidance seems to suggest that all reports of damp and mould should be treated as building-related issues, and – for reasons we’ll all appreciate – warns against making assumptions about ‘lifestyles’. It says that ‘everyday tasks such as cooking, bathing, washing and drying laundry will contribute to the production of indoor moisture and are unlikely to constitute a breach of contract on the tenant’s part’.

But the guidance – presumably quite deliberately – skirts round the notion that in some cases, these everyday tasks, when combined with other tenant behaviours – for example, around ventilation – may cause or exacerbate damp and mould and may do so on a recurring basis. In these circumstances, when is one report closed and another one opened, or does the same case run on ad infinitum?

Our member associations work with tenants to explain what happens with condensation and what can be done to combat it. But people can’t always afford to heat their home adequately, and some will also turn off ventilation systems and tape over window vents etc., not allowing their home to breathe.

The lifestyles issue needs to be faced up to and not brushed under the carpet. We will ask the Scottish Government to try to find a way of recognising it in their guidance, whilst still emphasising that making assumptions without thorough investigations of the property is neither acceptable nor legal.

And unlike a leak or heating breakdown, there should be no such thing as a damp and mould emergency unless a tenant has somehow allowed a serious problem to develop over a long period without reporting it.

Awaab Ishak didn’t die because of a damp and mould emergency – he died because he had a landlord who didn’t care about his family’s living circumstances and abjectly failed to respond to reports, resulting in an emergency situation that led to his tragic and totally avoidable death.

As long as extreme care is taken never to make assumptions in any given case, proper recognition of the lifestyles factor does not disrespect Awaab’s memory and will make for a healthier, more honest recognition of the complexities of this issue.