[Tim Richardson]

Humidity sensors are an interesting idea, as a surveyor specialising in damp issues (amongst other things) I’ve used various types over the years and also had them at home. Whilst it sounds like it could help avert damp issues it’s very subjective. The highest time of humidity is likely to be at about 4am in a cold winter when even the best ventilated home will have windows and doors tightly shut and high daytime temperatures; in these circumstances the warm air can hold a lot of moisture and it will nonsense out at the coldest part of the night. It wouldn’t be unusual for RH to be above 85% in the bedrooms at this time but it’s not necessarily a problem.

Conversely they are unlikely to show anything untoward in summer unless the resident is sealing up all the ventilation anyway.

In short they are a good tool where there is a problem but fitting them everywhere is looking for a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist and unlikely to justify the cost.

Tim Richardson MCIAT MCIOB FSAI MRICS MIFSM TMEI WMSoc Cert

Chartered Architectural Technologist, Chartered Construction Manager, Chartered Building Surveyor, CIAT-Accredited Conservationist
Registered Fire Risk Assessor
Accredited & Certified Legionella Risk Assessor
Accredited Domestic Energy Assessor

[Tim Richardson]

Thanks William, that’s a good stance to take.

[Tim Richardson]

This is interesting, there are reasons that oil filed radiators or electric panels heaters are not suitable but saying it has to be available sounds a bit odd to me. I would be very interested to know more about this too.

I’m happy to look into this further for you.

Tim Richardson MCIAT MCIOB FSAI MRICS MIFSM TMEI

Chartered Architectural Technologist, Chartered Construction Manager, Chartered Building Surveyor, CIAT-Accredited Conservationist
Registered Fire Risk Assessor
Accredited Legionella Risk Assessor
Accredited Domestic Energy Assessor

Quinquennial Inspections Limited
28 George Street
Balsall Heath
Birmingham
B12 9RG

Email: tim@timothyrichardson.co.uk
Tel: 0121 471 1478

[Tim Richardson]

As Nick says very unlikely to affect them at all. Certainly not the smaller charities.

[Tim Richardson]

I wouldn’t worry yet, the C is still an idea, no detail has been released and the previous industry consultation was abandoned due to Covid. I think clear guidance won’t be available until 2027 at the earliest. In my experience there will be numerous exemptions even (who knows) for Almshouses as a specific exemption from the Heat Metering Regulations was obtained.

Current exemptions only last 5 years anyway so registering anything prematurely would not be worth it.

[Tim Richardson]

As it stands the policy statement from August 2024 gave registered providers with under 50 units 4 years to comply. This is not an answer by any means but does mean that you should have until August 2028 to decide what to do – de-register or see if another exemption is forthcoming.

[Tim Richardson]

Yes, the bill is wordy but the requirements for qualified staff are only for “Registered providers”.

• This reply was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by Tim Richardson.

[Tim Richardson]

That’s good then, so the majority of small Almshouses are unaffected and those that are currently Registered Providers should de-register. Simple enough.

[Tim Richardson]

My understanding was that this only applies to “Registered Providers” which the majority of smaller Almshouses are not. Many have also de-registered over the years too. If this applied to every Almshouse I guess it would finish off the majority of them.

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