Housing association operating hundreds of homes across Stratford district rolls out damp and mould sensors

A housing association that operates hundreds of homes across Stratford-on-Avon district has rolled out sensors to help prevent damp and mould setting into homes.

Bromford Housing Association’s director of localities and customer contact Kevin Bennett discussed the work when questioned by Stratford-on-Avon District Council’s overview & scrutiny committee – a panel that runs the rule over key services provided by or on behalf of the authority – on Friday June 2.

He said the social housing provider, which has around 44,000 homes across the West Midlands and south-west, established a dedicated team to tackle condensation, damp and mould around Christmas time, in part prompted by the national outcry over the death of two-year-old boy Awaab Ishak from respiratory problems caused by “extensive” mould in his home in Rochdale.

The matter came up as part of questions over repairs generally and how proactively Bromford manages maintenance rather than waiting for things to go wrong.

Councillor Sarah Whalley-Hoggins (Con, Brailes and Compton) said: “Being reactive is never an efficient way to be.

“A particular example is storage heaters which are really, really expensive for people, they are causing a lot of fuel poverty.

“How are you identifying pre-emptive repairs and replacements?”

Mr Bennett, who during his presentation said Bromford handle around 8,000 repairs at a time but are aiming to bring that down and achieve most repairs within 30 days, replied: “We have a home investment programme portfolio, a dedicated team that completely focuses on the replacement of key parts of homes – doors, windows, kitchens, bathrooms – we have a cyclical programme that proactively looks at that.

“Our neighbourhood coaching approach is hugely proactive. Those colleagues work with customers to help proactively identify issues in homes too.

“Particularly for us, condensation, damp and mould has been a really key focus. All of our frontline colleagues are trained to understand the signs to look for, the environmental signs to be thinking about, any conditions in the home.

“We have started to install sensors into our homes for those customers who are happy for them to be installed so we understand some of those environmental conditions and can address any issues with condensation, damp and mould.”