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Lecks, moisture and mold – all decisions against London councils for bad apartments last year

According to the latest figures, London councils are shot to find an astonishing number of problems in connection with leaks, moisture and mold in the social residential properties in the course of 2024. In the middle of a significant increase in complaints against social landlords across Great Britain as a whole, a charity has expressed concerns that even new laws may not be sufficient to improve living conditions in social housing.

The civic representative of the housing construction, which concerns complaints of tenants about the conditions of their houses, can explain the administration of abuses if landlords do not act, cause inappropriate delays or do not support their residents. Data from the body show that in 2024 there were 404 decisions on leaks, moisture and mold in the houses managed by London council members.

There have been 781 such decisions for over five years, 185 strict. The social housing action campaign reports on an increase in tenant complaints on these topics.

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Man inspects a damp blanket

Moist walls and ceilings are not only unsightly, they are also a health risk: Aitor Diaago about Getty Images

Suzanne Muna, the secretary and co -founder of the group, argues for harder punishments for negligent landlords, since the current powers of the ombudsman are limited to “names and shame” tactics and minor fines.

She also warned that there is “very little that a tenant or a resident can force her landlord to carry out repairs”, a situation that may not change according to new laws. From October, the “Awaab's Law”, named after two -year -old Awaab Ishaak, who tragically died in Rochdale due to moisture and mold, will cause social landlords to examine and correct dangerous moisture and mold and to remedy all emergency risks within 24 hours.

Ms. Muna pressed the desire for “far more housing, with the budgets to employ employees directly to maintain the houses, and meaningful sanctions if they do not do so”. All over England, the number of knowledge of the grievances in connection with leaks, moisture and mold almost doubled from 893 last year in 2023 to 1,739.

In 'severe' misunderstanding events, an increase from 237 to 354 was also increased last year. Owe in the past year, while the local authorities were fault 673 times.

Richard Blakeway, the citizens' representative in housing construction, found that the landlords improve their reaction to moisture and mold and make it easier for tenants to report problems. However, he warned that some landlords consistently fail, and some repairs were no longer left behind until the civic representative admitted.

“In the most serious cases, the landlords did not take into account the circumstances of the household, such as health conditions or children,” he added. The Lambeth Council in London was the worst local authority with 60 knowledge of grievances.

London and Quadrant, one of the largest housing associations in Britain, is under fire after being surprisingly ruled by the Ombudsman. 40 cases were referred to as “serious”. The apartment giant reacted to the results, with David Lewis, director of real estate services at London and Quadrant, claimed that they are “very serious” problems such as moisture and mold.

He mentioned that the organization had revised both innocents to those affected and their complaint procedures. In the meantime, the Lambeth Council has reacted to problems within its tasks for social apartments by offering apologies, compensation and resolving problems for tenants.

A spokesman emphasized that Lambeth has invested hundreds of millions in housing improvements and unleash several programs to combat moisture and mold.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Spokesman for the Local Administration said that the government was “determined to change the security and quality of social living” by putting the AWAAB law into force from October. “Landlords who do not follow are brought to court, whereby social tenants can use the full powers of the law to take them into account,” they added.

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