Wates launches dedicated service to fix mouldy social homes

Wates has launched a new service dedicated to fighting disrepair, damp and mould in the social housing sectors. 

The construction group, which currently manages repairs and maintenance for more than 500,000 homes on behalf of 65 social landlords, has secured six customers for its ‘Healthy Homes’ service. 

‘Healthy Homes’  will attempt to reduce the number of cases of disrepair and damp and mould nationwide. It is on a number of public sector frameworks including Fusion, Procurement for Housing, Frameworx, South East Consortium and Pretium.

It consists of two workstreams, one on damp and mould and one on disrepair.

Damp and mould is estimated by the Regulator of Social Housing (RHS) to affect 160,000 social housing properties in England.  

Wates’ Damp and Mould service will use products and services identified through the Wates Innovation Network (WIN) Portal, which works to identify innovative technologies to improve property efficiency and lifespan.

Products to be used through the new service include thermoboards to improve insulation, air bricks that monitor humidity and support ventilation, and air monitoring systems to help improve air quality.

The disrepair workstream aims to help social landlords to address repairs before they become legal disputes, reducing legal fees and resulting in happy and safe residents.

The Healthy Homes inititiave is additonal to Wates’ core services for social housing landlords, including planned and responsive repairs and maintenance, fire safety and retrofit.

David Morgan, executive managing director of Wates Property Services, said: “Issues of disrepair, and damp and mould are a growing challenge for social landlords, which are compounded by equally pressing priorities of energy efficiency retrofit, routine maintenance and fire safety.  

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“Treating these with equal importance is vital, but can create budgetary pressures. The aim of our Healthy Homes service is to work with customers to address these challenges alongside our complementary services, ensuring that we are improving the lives of residents at every available opportunity while maximising value for money for landlords.”