Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Standards and safety in social housing made the headlines in November, as the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill was brought to the Commons for scrutiny.
Following the conclusion of the coroner’s report into the death of Awaab Ishak, which found that the two-year-old died due to the mould in his social home, Secretary of State Michael Gove wrote to council leaders and social housing providers calling for greater action to improve housing conditions. Gove also gave an emotive speech to Parliament, in which he promised that new regulations would provide greater protection for social housing tenants from unscrupulous landlords. On 26 November, over 250 tenants met November for the first meeting of the Social Housing Quality Residents Panel, which is charged with influencing the government’s plans on improving social housing conditions. The Panel is one of several provisions in the Bill which have received cross-party support.
What can almshouse charities do?
Condensation is the process where water vapour becomes liquid. It is the reverse of evaporation, where liquid water becomes a vapor. Condensation happens one of two ways: Either the air is cooled to its dew point or it becomes so saturated with water vapor that it cannot hold any more water.
Condensation occurs where moisture in warm air comes into contact with a cold surface and turns into water droplets. It is generally noticeable where it forms on non-absorbent surfaces such as windows and tiles, but it can form on any surface, only being noticed when mould appears or the material rots. Condensation tends to happen more in rooms where there is a considerable amount of moisture, such as bathrooms and kitchens, or in rooms where there is a number of people.
The moisture in the air comes from a number of sources within the house.
Normal day to day activities produce relatively large quantities and it is estimated that a five-person household puts approximately ten litres of water into the air every day. This estimation does not take into consideration the effects of any heating. Cooking, washing and drying clothes, our breathing and personal washing all play a part.
In the kitchens and bathrooms where the warm air contains a considerable amount of moisture, when the air then circulates to cooler parts of the house, for example to a bedroom, it will condense on any colder surface. The fact that houses have become more effectively sealed has led to any moisture produced being retained and providing better conditions for condensation to occur.
Ventilation is only effective if consistent throughout the entire house
Poor air circulation causing the formation of stagnant air pockets in areas, such as behind furniture and in cupboards, will tend to encourage condensation and the first evidence is usually the formation of mould growth. A further culprit is that of drying clothes in the home, especially over radiators.
Condensation can cause mould to form on walls, furniture and soft furnishings such as curtains and can even damage plasterwork and rot wooden window frames. In the case of anyone who has a breathing condition such as asthma or bronchitis, it is most important that every effort is made to control condensation because mould and house mites may make these conditions worse.
Minimising and Preventing Condensation
In order to minimise and hopefully prevent condensation occurring:
- It is best to ventilate the room to the outside after having a bath or shower. Opening a window and closing the door will help.
- Dry clothes should be dried out of doors if possible or in a cool area leading to less moisture being held in the air at any one time.
- Where clothes are dried inside the home, the room should be ventilated and wet coats should be hung outside the living area to dry.
- Tumble dryers should be vented to the outside unless they are condensing dryers.
- A minimum amount of water should be used when cooking and lids kept on pans.
- Extractor fans should be used where available.
- When filling baths it is best to run the cold water first and then add the hot which will reduce the amount of steam considerably.
Encouraging your residents to follow the above simple measures will make a great difference and hopefully avoiding condensation or, at the least, minimise its occurrence.
30 November 2022