Condensation and mould

Leading British ventilation manufacturer Vent-Axia has welcomed the UK Government setting a date of October 2025 for Awaab’s Law to be introduced across the social housing sector. The law was initiated following the tragic death of 2-year-old Awaab Ishak, due to a mouldy home. Awaab’s Law is part of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act and is set to impose strict requirements on social housing landlords to investigate and resolve issues of damp and mould within specified timeframes, helping residents gain faster repairs and reducing health risks. It marks the biggest change in social housing rules in a decade, aiming to prevent future tragedies and improve tenant safety.

Vent-Axia and Switchee, the leading ventilation manufacturer and smart technology provider in the UK, are joining forces to launch ‘Vent-Axia’s Lo-Carbon Revive 7 with Switchee connectivity’, a proven cutting-edge ventilation solution specifically designed for social housing.

Vent-Axia’s ventilation solutions enhance indoor air quality (IAQ), while Switchee’s controls ensure that heating and ventilation work in harmony, creating a healthier living environment, putting both resident wellbeing and social housing protection at the forefront of property management.

Leading ventilation manufacturer Vent-Axia is welcoming the third, World Ventilation Day, #WorldVentil8Day, a day dedicated to recognising and promoting the importance of ventilation and indoor air quality (IAQ). This year World Ventil8 Day will be held on Friday 8th November 2024, with the theme of ‘Enabling Action’. The day aims to highlight ventilation’s crucial role in healthy buildings and a healthy life, with a particular focus on how to help people improve ventilation in their buildings whether it be a home, a school, a workplace or a social space.

Ventilation compliance is a complex area for any social housing landlord, with new requirements having been introduced in the last couple of years.   The team at Vortice can help, offering non-product driven training sessions for local authority teams and social housing providers which explain just how issues within existing housing stock can be addressed and what specification is required for new build social housing.

With over 50 years’ experience in the ventilation market, Vortice is well placed to help providers with the knowledge they need to comply with new building regulations and ventilation standards.  Visit www.vorticemouldsolutions.co.uk to book a free training session.

David Bly – Managing Director of Cornerstone Management Services Ltd, a company providing independent expert property health surveys is of the opinion more can be done for fighting year-on-year damp, condensation and mould issues in buildings.

For many involved with managing and upholding structural health, it could be argued there needs to be a ‘reset’ with regard to how structures are assessed for these reported issues.

With a proven history providing independent expert surveys into the root causes of damp, condensation and mould, our findings clearly confirm many issues align to the adequate ventilation of a building.

Vortice is proud to unveil its latest range of DMEV (decentralised mechanical extract ventilation) fans, offering a vital remedy for condensation and mould challenges faced by UK social housing providers. Celebrated for their dependability and performance, these advanced fans can move over half a million litres of air in just 24 hours even at their minimal trickle speeds. It’s not difficult to see why these fans, which have features like automatic humidity boost and run-on timers as well as being IPX4 rated, are so popular.  However, when used in existing homes, they can struggle to meet the whole dwelling ventilation rates required by the latest Building Regulations due to the small number of ‘wet rooms’ in some of the UK’s older housing stock.
 

By Luke Smith, managing director of Build Test Solutions