Blog
Plain-English coverage of Awaab's Law, the Renters' Rights Act 2025, the Decent Homes Standard, and the practical work of UK damp surveying in 2026.
Compliance
The government is rewriting the rulebook for everyone who works on buildings. Its call for evidence closes 12 August 2026 and will shape competency, qualifications and inspection standards for damp and timber surveyors. Here is what's on the table and how to respond.
Compliance
From 23 June 2026 the HHSRS drops from 29 hazards to 21 and replaces the A–J bands with High, Medium and Low. Here is what changes for damp surveyors and compliance teams, what the new Renters' Rights Act penalties actually are, and what to fix in your report templates now.
Compliance
Under Awaab's Law, social landlords must investigate significant damp and mould within 10 working days, explain their findings in writing within 3, and make the property safe within 5. Here is exactly how the clocks work — and what happens when they're missed.
Compliance
Awaab's Law requires social landlords to investigate and fix damp and mould within strict timeframes. Here is everything surveyors need to know about compliance, reporting requirements, and how digital survey tools help meet the deadlines.
Practice
A RICS survey and a PCA damp survey answer different questions. One assesses the property; the other diagnoses the moisture problem. Here is what each qualification means, when you need which survey, and the independence question to ask before you book.
Compliance
Black mould is no longer a cosmetic nuisance a landlord can blame on lifestyle. Here are the real health risks, the legal duties on landlords, and why diagnosing the cause comes before treating the symptom.
Compliance
The HHSRS is the framework Awaab's Law and the Decent Homes Standard lean on, yet 'Category 1' is written into reports more often than it's understood. Here's how the scoring works and why surveyors must show their working.
Practice
Damp is one of the most common reasons a house purchase hits a snag. Here's how damp fits into the mortgage process, what a retention means, and why an independent damp survey beats a 'free' one from a treatment firm.
Practice
Rising damp is one of the most over-diagnosed problems in UK housing. Here's what actually causes it — capillary action through a missing or bridged damp-proof course — the genuine signs, and how it should be treated.
Compliance
A practical, stage-by-stage checklist for social landlords meeting Awaab's Law: capturing the clock-start, investigating, reporting to the tenant, remediating, and building the audit trail the ombudsman expects.
Compliance
Housing associations face statutory damp and mould deadlines on every reported case. Here is what to look for in damp survey software in 2026 — Awaab's Law deadline tracking, audit trails, and portfolio-level compliance.
Practice
Condensation, damp, and mould are not the same thing — and confusing them leads to the wrong fix every time. Here is how to tell which one you are actually dealing with, and why the cause matters more than the symptom.
Practice
What a damp survey costs in the UK in 2026, what drives the price, why a 'free' survey from a treatment firm is rarely impartial, and how to know you're getting genuine value from an independent report.
Practice
Not all survey software is built for damp work. Generic inspection apps miss critical features that damp surveyors need. Here is what to look for — and what to avoid — when choosing damp survey software in 2026.
Practice
Misclassifying damp is the most common cause of failed remediation. Rising damp and penetrating damp have different causes, different tide marks, and require completely different treatments. Here is how to distinguish them confidently.
Practice
A professional damp survey report must cover the cause, extent, and recommended treatment of moisture problems clearly enough for the client, contractor, and solicitor to act on. This guide covers exactly what to include and in what order.
Compliance
A plain-English guide to Awaab's Law for working damp surveyors — statutory deadlines, hazard categories, what reports must contain, and what changes in 2026.
Compliance
The 2025 Act extends Awaab's Law-style obligations to private landlords, with commencement phased through the government's roadmap. Here's what damp surveyors and PRS landlords should prepare for now.
Compliance
The revised Decent Homes Standard treats damp and mould as explicit failure criteria. What that means for housing-association stock teams and the surveyors who serve them.
Practice
A field-tested template for damp survey reports that hold up under tribunal, ombudsman, or expert-witness scrutiny. Structure, evidence, language, and the seven things that get reports thrown out.
Industry
Where the UK damp and mould crisis stands in 2026, why it has accelerated since Awaab Ishak's death, and what the surveying industry is — and isn't — doing about it.