On patrol with the and busters
on house building. Nothing is more imperative than providing current customers a warm, happy and healthy home.”
Referring to complaints from tenants who feel their complaints of damp and mould have gone unheard, he admits communication has needed to improve –but thinks significant progress has been made in recent months.
“With contractors, the biggest education we need for operatives is breakdown in notes and information. Passing information on is big,” he says.
Speaking about RBH’S investment of £45m into a mould and damp taskforce, Adam adds: “It’s a really good sign that they’ve put taskforces in certain areas.
“We have people analysing where we get the most calls from.
“The teams are now actively door knocking, so there has been a massive shift. There are more people on the ground and getting in contact with customers, so the work is getting done. We need to be like the age-old thing with the local copper on the corner that people know. So people know us and we’re spotted in the area.”
He goes on to describe how maintaining a property is important for preventing damp and mould. He also explains that things like extractor fans, opening windows (when it’s not raining) and putting the heating on can help reduce problems with damp.
In the last callout of the day, Adam finds poor property maintenance to be the cause of the problems, with dangerously high humidity levels of 80 per cent in some rooms (healthy levels are between 30 and 60 per cent). This is due to keeping windows shut, extractor fans off and drying wet clothing without the heating on, he believes.
Upon entering the property, fresh coats of paint are running down the wall in the humidity. Adam advises the occupant on how to keep the property ventilated and safe and will later report back any issues that need addressing by contractors or members of the team.
Before we parted ways, Adam tells us that he has learned many of their disgruntled customers have originally complained to the council, rather than RBH, but then not followed up their complaints – which has led to a backlog of issues.
He feels this is all the more reason to have more RBH workers on the ground to help their tenants better understand who to go to with complaints or issues.
This mindset is a change from a few years back when Awaab’s family found themselves blamed for the damp and mould problem. This happened even though RBH had a backlog of hundreds of complaints about the issue at its properties.