The Better Social Housing Review

The Better Social Housing Review was set up in June 2022 by The National Housing Federation and Chartered Institute of Housing to tackle social housing issues in England.

The Review was published in mid-December 2022 and noted that “damp, mould and condensation were the most prevalent and long-standing concerns for the majority of stakeholders we spoke to as part of the review”. The Review made close reference to the Housing Ombudsman’s report, Spotlight on Damp and Mould, which urged landlords to take a more proactive approach to damp and mould.

One of the key recommendations of the Better Social Housing Review was that “housing associations should work together to conduct and publish a thorough audit of all social housing in England.”

Given the importance of damp and mould to the Review’s stakeholders, this audit should gather data on levels of mould in housing associations’ properties.

HouseTest’s qPCR test for mould can be deployed rapidly and at scale, and can provide robust and actionable data on both damp and mould which can be integrated into housing associations’ reports on their stock.

The accuracy and scalability of HouseTest’s analysis means that it is an especially useful tool for social landlords to build on reporting and begin to prioritise action to remediate mould problems the most seriously affected properties.