How the Internet of Things will help social landlords implement Awaab’s Law

The Internet of Things (IoT) is emerging as an important tool for social landlords such as local authorities and housing associations to meet tough new rules relating to fixing damp and mould problems in their tenants’ properties. 

The regulations around damp and mould in social housing were tightened up in 2023 with the entry into force of the Social Housing Regulation Act. The Act included an amendment, commonly known as Awaab’s Law, relating to treating damp and mould. 

The amendment was named after Awaab Ishak who died from a respiratory condition due to prolonged exposure to mould in his Rochdale home in December 2020. Awaab’s father had previously complained about mould in the property but had been told by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing simply to paint over it. The coroner later ruled that the family home had “inadequate ventilation and was not equipped for normal day-to-day living activities”. 

The Ishak family is not alone in experiencing damp and mould in their housing. The UK Government’s English Housing Survey 2023 revealed that damp and mould affect 177,000 social homes.  

The campaigners behind Awaab’s Law proposed that landlords in England should investigate damp and mould issues within two weeks and then to start repair work within the next week after that. In the event that the landlord did not meet these deadlines, they would be forced to pay the tenant compensation. 

In 2021, after Awaab’s tragic death, the Housing Ombudsman issued the spotlight report Damp and mould: It’s not a lifestyle. It revealed that it had handled 1,595 complaints about damp and mould between April 2019 and March 2021 resulting in 222 compensation claims totalling more than £120,000. 

The entry into force of the new rules in 2023 has led all social landlords to look at their policies on damp and mould, particularly in relation to how quickly they are required to act, although deadlines for landlords to act are currently subject to a consultation.  

For example, the London Borough of Newham introduced a new damp and mould strategy in 2023. The authority said the new strategy was designed “to both immediately improve the experience of residents and how this issue is dealt with into the future. It defines both how we will strengthen our rapid response to reports of damp and mould, but also the proactive, holistic and long-term actions we will take to prevent its appearance and recurrence”. 

Stevenage, South Cambridgeshire and Camden councils are among other authorities which have also announced changes to their policies. 

In its report, the Ombudsman recommended that social landlords adopt a “data driven, risk-based approach with respect to damp and mould”. This, it said, would reduce “over-reliance on residents to report issues, help landlords identify hidden issues and support landlords to anticipate and prioritise interventions before a complaint or disrepair claim is made”.  

Many landlords have identified smart IoT-based technologies as a way to implement these new policies.  

In February 2024, Camden Council said its new policy included a commitment to “ensure a data driven preventative asset strategy approach to tackle the risk of condensation, damp and mould within the stock portfolio” and it would “explore proactive measures to prevent occurrence and reoccurrence [of damp and mould] including use of technology”. 

South Cambridgeshire said it was “looking into the potential of smart in-home technologies…which would enable it to collect data on conditions within properties and identify properties at higher risk of damp, mould and condensation issues”. 

At Canary Care, we have long recognised the value of IoT-based sensors for detecting the potential for damp and mould. 

Canary Care’s wireless home monitoring service is used by more than 100 local authorities, NHS organisations and care providers across the UK. 

Social landlords can monitor what is happening in their properties from a central dashboard which brings together detailed information from a range of sensors; families can also keep track of their loved ones through an app. 

As well as motiondoor, and light sensors, Canary Care also offers temperature and humidity monitoring as an add-on. These unobtrusive and low-power sensors measure just 70 x 32 x 18mm and run on 2xAAA batteries. 

The sensor shares the information with landlords and family members using the Internet of Things. Their simplicity also makes them low cost, meaning landlords can use multiple sensors in a single property. An organisation can look at humidity data through a central dashboard to spot trends and also receive alerts if humidity and temperature levels are in the range conducive to the development of mould. 

There are a number of potential benefits for both landlords and families when implementing an IoT-based system: 

• Identify damp and mould problems before they occur; 

• Give families peace of mind their relatives are living in a safe environment; 

• Enable landlords to meet tight new deadlines for action on damp and mould; 

• Avoid expensive legal action and compensation claims; 

• Help landlords see that remediation and improvements are working in their properties; 

• Highlight problems that affect multiple properties within a single development; 

• Provide evidence that they are keeping to the new regulations. 

The new rules will hopefully ensure that the tragedy that befell the Ishak family is not repeated. Smart technology can only help social landlords keep to them.