Regulatory judgement improvement plan

Regulatory standard

Area of weakness

Intended outcome(s)

Faster resolution of damp and mould issues.

Reduced frequency of damp and mould across the housing stock.

Lead

Ian McLackland (Service Director, Repairs and building maintenance) 

Laura Atkinson (Service Manager, Repairs and voids)

Target completion

55 day target for average number of days to fix damp and mould issues.

0.72% target for damp and mould as a % of housing stock.

Step targets (where possible)

Short/medium/long term plans

Average number of days to fix damp and mould issues

Short Term

49 days (Lower quartile).

Medium Term

38 days (Median quartile). 

Long Term:

19 days (Upper quartile)

Damp and mould as a percentage of housing stock

Short term:

1.85% (Lower quartile)

Medium term:

0.82% (Median quartile)

Long term:

0.32% (Upper quartile)

(As per HouseMark Peer Group 2024 to 2025 benchmarking data for both the above) 

Organisational risks

1. Recruitment challenges.
2. Tighter targets when Awaab's Law comes into force on 1 October 2025.

Potential impact on customers if we do not achieve intended outcome

1. Respiratory and other health issues from prolonged exposure.
2. Reduced quality of life and tenant dissatisfaction.

Current position

At the end of Q3, the average number of days to fix damp and mould issues was 51 days.  Although this is still four days under the year end target, it is a nine day increase on the average number of days (42 days) at the end of Q2. The shortest time was one working day and the longest was 402 working days.

In addition, the percentage of the housing stock identified as having damp and mould has increased from 2.7% to 5.88% since the last quarter.  This is higher than the year end target of 0.72%. 

The increase in figures is largely down to seasonal change. At the end of quarter 2, weather conditions were mild however, during quarter 3 weather conditions and temperatures declined. This has increased the number of reports of damp and mould received by customers and has also increased the workload within this stream, reflecting in the time taken to repair.

Since the commencement of full proactive damp and mould works in October 2024,24 new tenants have raised damp related work, compared to 138 new tenants for the period October 2023 to December 2024.  

24 of 29 Pennington's recommendations complete (no change since November update).

RAG

Evidence

Reports to Strategic Housing Board, Housing Environment and Healthy Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HEHC OSC), Housing Portfolio and Corporate Management Team.

Pennington Choices Damp and Mould Action Plan