The Government is consulting on how Awaab’s Law should work for private landlords, and the Federation of Damp, a UK-wide trade body, says one question deserves far more attention: who will carry out the required damp and mould investigations?
The consultation closes on 18 December and proposes extending Awaab’s Law to private rented tenancies. It also asks whether supported housing, temporary accommodation and care-leaver accommodation should be covered, and the change could ultimately reach more than five million additional households.
Its starting point is the social housing model, where landlords must investigate a potential significant hazard within 10 working days. The consultation itself asks how difficult it would be to find enough suitably competent people to do that work.
The consultation notes that 82% of private landlords own fewer than five properties, and it assumes very few have repair teams of their own. Most would hire contractors one job at a time.
“The Government’s own review of social housing found surveyor shortages were holding delivery back,” said Sam Fitzgerald, founder. “Now you’re talking about adding millions of private tenancies to the same pool of people. Damp surveying isn’t a regulated profession - so when demand jumps, anyone can step in to fill the gap.”
Diagnosis before treatment under Awaab’s Law
Fitzgerald also sees speed as a risk, because a deadline could reward whoever can turn up quickest rather than the person best placed to work out what is wrong.
“Fast wrong answers are worse than slow ones,” he said. “Condensation gets treated as rising damp, or a genuine defect gets written off as lifestyle, and the mould comes back worse a few months later. Diagnosis must come before treatment.”
Social landlords have already had a year of Awaab’s Law to learn this.
“Response times get measured, and accuracy doesn’t, so all the pressure pushes one way,” Fitzgerald added. “Private landlords and agents can learn from that now, before the law reaches them.”
The consultation’s starting position is that a landlord can use anyone who, in their own judgement, has the right skills and experience. It also asks whether more should be required. Nothing has been decided, and the trade body does not suggest any particular qualification is a legal requirement. Fitzgerald argues, however, that landlords who want to show they chose well will need something to point to.
“Ask what damp training they’ve done, whether they answer to an independent body with a complaints process, and whether you can see a report they’ve written,” Fitzgerald advised. “The report tells you most of what you need to know.”
The trade body is encouraging landlords, letting agents and others in the sector to respond before the consultation closes.
