Member

This amendment seeks to draw an explicit link between temperature and humidity and damp and mould hazards. Can the Minister confirm that the Government recognise the fundamental importance of keeping homes at a safe temperature and humidity level to avoid those hazards? There are indeed preventive solutions that can help maintain safe temperature and humidity levels to help tackle one of the main root causes of damp and mould problems. As an example, I am told that infra-red heating technology can eradicate severe damp and mould in a week by drying out internal walls and reducing humidity levels, and can even monitor on a room-by-room basis to automatically switch on if levels become dangerous. With many households currently struggling to adequately heat their homes, as a result of either losing their winter fuel payment or the combination of that with rising living costs, temperature and humidity control clearly has a role in preventing the hazards that these problems could otherwise cause. Indeed, I argue that this is more important than ever.