Challenge 12.6

What is the problem, and how does it affect the Challenge Sponsor organisation, service users and/or People of Scotland?

Registered social landlords are responsible for both the properties they manage and supporting the “outcomes” for their residents. Various steps have been taken over the last decade to improve the building fabric and energy efficiency of social housing. However, after a prolonged period of cost-of-living pressures combined with constrained public sector budgets, there are a significant number of residents on low incomes who cannot afford to meet their basic needs in terms of essential heating and food costs. The continuing cost-of-living crisis, fuel poverty and constrained public sector budgets mean that some residents remain unable to heat and ventilate their homes adequately, even where the property itself is of a good standard.

Strong evidence exists linking damp, cold and mould (DCM) and poor-quality housing to worse health outcomes (including respiratory illness) and to pressures on healthcare services in Scotland. Long-term monitoring of health inequalities in Scotland by area deprivation - Publications - Public Health Scotland summarises the relationship between housing quality (including warmth/dampness) and health inequalities.

• There is currently a problem with identifying which residents might most need support due to: A lack of accessible data about health conditions that would enable higher risk residents to be identified and support prioritised towards them.

• A lack of real time air quality data that would allow RSLs to identify properties where the heating and ventilation are not being used and take preventative action.

• Existing environmental / risk monitoring technology is not financially viable for RSLs

This creates a particular risk for tenants who are already vulnerable, including people with long-term respiratory conditions or other health needs that can be worsened by cold, damp or mould. Poor housing conditions and fuel poverty can contribute to declining health and wellbeing, increase the likelihood of crises, and place additional pressure on health, social care and support services.

For Cloch Housing, the Challenge is not simply the existence of cold, damp, mould or fuel poverty, but the difficulty of identifying where these risks are most likely to lead to harm and what intervention would have the greatest impact. Some Registered Social Landlords have existing data on the portfolio of their properties

such as building type or energy efficiency, this can support general planning but does not provide a full picture of individual tenant vulnerability, household circumstances, heating behaviour or real-time environmental risk.

As a result, support can be reactive or generic, rather than targeted and preventative. For example, a resident with a long-term respiratory condition may live in a modern, energy-efficient home but still be at significant risk because they cannot afford to heat it properly. Without better insight, Cloch may miss opportunities to intervene earlier through heating support, energy advice, ventilation support, repairs, building improvements or referrals to partner services.

The wider impact is felt by service users and the People of Scotland through poorer health and wellbeing, avoidable deterioration of homes, increased maintenance demand, pressure on limited RSL resources and additional strain on public services. A successful solution would help Cloch better understand where housing, fuel poverty and health-related vulnerability combine to create risk, and enable practical, proportionate action before harm escalates.

How will we know this Challenge has been solved?

• Residents, particularly those with long-term respiratory or other relevant health conditions, experience reduced risk of harm from cold, damp, mould and fuel/ poverty, with improved health and wellbeing outcomes where these can be measured.

• Cloch can identify households and properties where housing conditions, fuel poverty and individual vulnerability combine to create a higher risk of poor health and wellbeing outcomes.

• Any data provided is actionable: it clearly indicates what intervention is needed, who is best placed to act, the urgency or priority level, and how Cloch can track whether action has reduced risk over time.

• Cloch can prioritise and deliver practical, targeted interventions, such as heating support, energy advice, ventilation support, repairs, building fabric improvements, welfare support or referrals to partner services.

• The solution helps Cloch move from reactive responses to earlier prevention by showing where support is needed, what action has been taken, what remains unresolved, and whether tenant and property risks are reducing.

• Any use of health-related data is appropriate, proportionate, ethical and governed in a way that supports preventative action while protecting tenant privacy;

• Data or insights can be translated into practical intervention that has a direct positive benefit to a tenant, registered social landlords or the health service.

Who are the end users likely to be?

• Registered Social Landlords

• Council Housing Departments

• Large Private Residential Landlords/Institutional Landlords

• Health boards

• Energy Suppliers

Has the Challenge Sponsor attempted to solve this problem before?

Cloch Housing have an energy advice hub that can be accessed by tenants to offer support and advice on energy. They also have a community support team that can offer fuel and utility advice.

In response to feedback around cost of living from tenants Cloch issued warm goods, issued ALDI vouchers to help with food costs and issued energy vouchers to support with the rising cost of utility bills.

IoT sensors for temperature, humidity, and ventilation monitoring exist and can be useful but these are often not viable at portfolio scale and rarely linked to household circumstances or to a repairs and support workflow for RSLs.

Are there any interdependencies or blockers?

Data governance – ability to demonstrate how water-tight data and privacy governance built into the solution. 

The applicant will need to understand the current landscape of existing data and available mechanisms for fuel poverty/energy support and damp cold and mould reduction.

In Scotland,  a new home energy efficiency blueprint is in development and it would be beneficial to explore the connections with this. ENVISION: The Digital Blueprint for a Smart Home of the Future Executive Summary.

Will a solution need to integrate with any existing systems / equipment?

We have identified factors that may make a tenant more vulnerable (but not limited to)

• Health status

• Income

• Age

• Building fabric

• Understanding of damp prevention behaviours

• Short term circumstances

• Renewable energy and reduced tariffs

A strong solution would encompass these insights.

Existing tools/tech/schemes/grants/energy initiatives are available, and a solution may want to integrate with these.

We are keen that proposals for this Challenge consider the various potential end-users for this product as well as Cloch. And so applicants may find it helpful to be aware of  broader data sets on Building Fabric, including but not limited to this Scottish Government open source EPC dataset. https://statistics.gov.scot/data/domestic-energy-performance-certificates

Cloch Housing has (in common with most other Registered Social Landlords) Asset Registers and Software supporting Building Management and Maintenance which includes data on building fabric and existing energy improvement measures.

Is this part of an existing service?

This Challenge is directly connected to Cloch’s core service as a Registered Social Landlord: providing safe, warm, affordable homes and supporting tenants to sustain their tenancies and live well. Damp, cold, mould and fuel poverty affect both property condition and tenant wellbeing, particularly for vulnerable households. By helping Cloch identify who needs support most, understand which interventions are likely to have the greatest impact, and prioritise limited resources effectively, the Challenge supports strategic objectives around tenant wellbeing, quality homes, preventative support, efficient service delivery and stronger partnership working.

Scotland is progressing strengthened requirements (including Awaab’s Law) which will increase expectations on landlords around investigation and repair timescales for damp and mould.

Any technologies the Challenge Sponsor wishes to explore or avoid?

We are interested in solutions that can help Cloch move beyond reactive responses and towards earlier, targeted action. The ideal solution would directly help prevent, reduce or resolve the impacts of fuel poverty, damp, cold and mould for vulnerable tenants. However, we recognise that a technology solution may not be able to address all of the underlying causes. Strong proposals may therefore focus on providing practical, prioritised insight that helps Cloch identify risk earlier, target support more effectively, coordinate existing interventions, protect homes and make best use of limited registered social landlord resources. If a solution uses data, it should go beyond simply presenting information and show how it can drive meaningful, practical action.

We are also interested in solutions that make practical use of smart energy systems, local renewable generation, storage, flexible demand, tariff optimisation or community energy models where these can help reduce fuel poverty risk and improve health and wellbeing outcomes for tenants.

What is the commercial opportunity beyond a CivTech contract?

• NHS Health boards

• Large private landlords

• Local Councils

• Scottish Housing Regulator

• Private landlords

• Registered Social Landlords

Who are the stakeholders?

Tenants; Cloch Housing Association; Scottish Housing Regulator; Scottish Government; Inverclyde Council; energy and welfare advice partners; NHS/HSCP; energy suppliers

Relevant standards and duties include the Scottish Housing Quality Standard, the Scottish Social Housing Charter, and Awaab’s Law in Scotland

Who’s in the Challenge Sponsor team?

Cloch Housing Association

Discussions are ongoing regarding the participation of a co-sponsor. While it is anticipated that a co-sponsor be secured prior to a potential Pre-Commercial Agreement Stage, their involvement remains subject to final agreement by all parties.

What is the policy background to the Challenge?

Registered Social Landlords have legal responsibilities for the monitoring and control of damp, cold and mould (DCM) within the properties they manage and are required to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) which requires housing to be free from rising or penetrating damp, to have satisfactory ventilation and meet minimum energy efficiency standards.

Awaab’s law was introduced in England in 2020 following the death of Awaab Ishak, a two year old child who died in 2020 from a respiratory condition linked to prolonged exposure to severe mould in his family’s social housing property. The law is intended to ensure that landlords cannot leave hazards unsolved for extended periods. Awaab’s Law will come into force in Scotland 6th October 2026. 

Phase 1 of Awaab’s Law – October 2025
Applies to all emergency hazards and significant damp and mould hazard that present a risk to health and safety.

Phase 2 – of Awaab’s Law – November 2026
Expanding scope to include additional significant hazards such as excess cold, excess heat, falls, structural collapse and falling elements, fire and explosion risks, electrical hazards and domestic hygiene hazards. 

From a legal perspective, Registered Social Landlords will have stronger legal obligations, increased operational demands and increased maintenance costs.  

This Challenge also aligns with the Scottish Social Housing Charter, which sets out the outcomes and standards that social landlords should achieve for tenants and other customers. It supports expectations around providing good-quality, well-maintained homes, delivering effective repairs and improvements, sustaining tenancies, listening to tenants’ needs and making best use of landlord resources. By helping RSLs identify risk earlier and target preventative support more effectively, the Challenge supports Charter outcomes relating to tenant wellbeing, housing quality, service responsiveness and value for money.

The Challenge also sits within a wider UK policy context focused on energy security, clean power and reducing exposure to volatile fossil fuel prices. The proposed Energy Independence Bill is expected to support the scaling up of homegrown renewable energy, grid and infrastructure reform, and changes to energy markets and pricing. While the detail is still developing, this reinforces the relevance of solutions that help social landlords make practical use of smart energy systems, local renewable generation, storage, flexible demand, tariff optimisation or community energy models where these can reduce fuel poverty risk and improve tenant health and wellbeing.