Decision Report 201400773

Summary

Mr C said his home suffered from rising damp, which he said was affecting his family's health. He complained that the association had told him the problem was not rising damp but was caused by condensation and had provided advice on how to control and manage that. He was concerned when, after a visit to his property, he received a letter from the council's land and environmental services saying they could find no evidence of condensation dampness but they believed there might be an issue of rising dampness due to a defective pipe at the front of the property.

We found, however, that after this letter was sent, the association had arranged for the drainage to be checked, and that no fault had been found. They had also arranged for a specialist rot company to inspect the property. The company had found no evidence of rising damp but did note the presence of condensation, and the association had clarified this with Mr C. It turned out, therefore, that the way that the council's letter was worded had led Mr C to wrongly believe that there was a problem with rising damp.