Mid Devon Housing is also collecting invaluable feedback from tenants as it seeks to combat health risks in properties within the district
Since 2017/18 Mid Devon Housing (MDH) has been looking at ways to tackle challenges with damp and mould and improve the environmental performance of its homes. Over the last six years MDH’s approach to damp and mould has evolved and significant improvements have been made. Recent improvements include enhanced data collection and analysis, the introduction of in-home environmental monitoring, investment in enhanced ventilation and heating, additional diagnostic tools, by deploying connected alarm systems within all communal areas across its 100 blocks to increase resident safety through Aico’s HomeLINK Connected Home Solution.
Communal areas, such as hallways and stairwells, often form part of the planned escape route for residents in the event of fire, and are equally as important to protect with life saving devices. Mid Devon Housing is responsible for all communal areas within its housing portfolio, ranging from hallways and staircases to bin and storage rooms. A solution was required to improve fire safety in these areas, in line with the increased protection offered by the LD2 fire alarm systems installed within each flat.
An additional aim was to improve asset management with the ability to increase response times in regard to replacement and maintenance, removing the need for manual checks or reliance on residents to report an issue. With the majority of blocks within Mid Devon Housing’s portfolio consisting of just four flats, there was a concern that installing a monitored fire alarm system within each building would require a significant investment.
A cost-effective solution was, therefore, necessary for the housing provider to deliver their fire safety objectives for communal areas, as well as generating savings where possible. The installation of the Aico Gateway within communal areas in the flats was the answer and has brought some early benefits to Mid Devon Housing, enhancing building safety for residents as well as improving operational efficiencies.
However, Mid Devon Housing is going one step further with a targeted tenant survey: https://letstalk.middevon.gov.uk/mdh-damp-mould-survey
Councillor Simon Clist, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing and Property Services, said: “Thanks to Rosie and our dedicated Mid Devon Housing team for their proactive approach to tackling damp and mould. Their excellent work showcases Mid Devon District Council as a responsible landlord, and their hands-on approach reflects a commitment to ensuring the well-being and satisfaction of tenants. I would encourage all MDH tenants to fill out our damp and mould survey which will provide an invaluable opportunity to address concerns.”
To further strengthen its environmental monitoring project MDH has joined Project Empower, a project run by Ambisense. During the six-month project MDH will be deploying environmental sensing technology in a portion of homes to understand their performance. This work compliments MDH’s existing environmental monitoring project with Aico|HomeLINK, which has seen 50 environmental sensors connected across 12 homes to date, providing insights into damp, mould and air quality risks.
Rosie Wills, Technical Support & Repairs Manager, said: “By actively involving tenants, and making best use of the expertise of our long-standing staff, we are confident in our ability to staying true to our mission of providing safe, comfortable homes for our residents. Recent reports have highlighted our proactive work to tackle the nationally important and prevalent issue of damp and mould. Another example of our continued drive to put tenant welfare at the heart of what we do.”
Chris Jones, CEO AICO|Homelink, the firm that provided the IoT sensor technology behind the damp and mould, and fire safety initiatives, concluded: “Mid Devon District Council’s efforts are an example of proactive social landlord that is embracing technology to improve the health and wellbeing of its tenants. In line with some of the Housing Ombudsman’s examples of best practice, they have been using our new technology to identify and address the root cause of mould issues as well as ascertain the effectiveness of remedial works.
“They are among a growing band of social housing pioneers that are looking to understand homes by measuring indicators such as moisture levels and temperatures which help them to understand and tackle issues like damp and mould before they become a crisis.”
AICO|Homelink works with other housing providers throughout the UK, including Poplar Harca, Stirling Council and Hull City Council.
For more information please visit: https://www.aico.co.uk/
