Vico Homes - Damp and Mould Health Check

Vico Homes is a housing provider in the north of England with over 32,000 homes.

Project Overview 

Pennington Choices were commissioned by Vico Homes to undertake a health check of their approach to meeting the requirements of Awaab’s Law, and assessing their approach to identifying and dealing with damp and mould in their properties.

Our Approach 

We assessed Vico Homes' compliance with the legal and regulatory duties, the effectiveness of operational delivery, and approach to customer care when dealing with hazards in tenants’ homes.

The scope and objectives included assessing compliance with Awaab's Law, evaluating the existing approach to identifying and resolving damp and mould, providing assurance of Vico Homes' current approach and position, and identifying areas of good practice and recommendations for improvement.

Upon commission, we agreed the project methodology and a timeline during the project initiation meeting. The project was delivered by two principal consultants. Our approach included:

• Document and data review (strategies, policies, procedures, reporting frameworks, asset and stock condition data, literature provided to tenants, etc.)
• Information gathering sessions with teams responsible for data management, surveying, repairs, asset management, contact centre, housing management, complaints, and disrepair.
• Debrief with project sponsors to discuss high level findings and recommendations.
• A report and action plan covering areas of good practice, and areas that could be further strengthened.
• Feedback to the executive management team and investment committee.

Our Achievements

We found that Vico Homes is in a strong position in dealing with the requirements of Awaab’s Law, with effective controls and arrangements in place to identify, handle, and resolve hazards within their homes, while recommending some areas to assist in strengthening the effectiveness of their processes and in preparation of the next phases of the Law, due to be introduced over the next few years.

The project was undertaken as a collaborative approach to ensure timescales were achieved and Vico Homes received the required outcomes expected from the commission. Overall, it has been a pleasure working with Vico Homes and we look forward to working with them in the future.

Client Testimonial

“Jack Ashton and Pennington Choices are a pleasure to work with. I commissioned Pennington Choices to review our approach to Damp, Mould and Condensation services, in particular delivering Phase 1 of Awaab’s Law. Jack was assigned to the project. The audit scope and process was clearly defined with timelines and expectations detailed from the outset.

The document review was completed succinctly and Jack held interviews with colleagues and teams, a thorough, professional, 2-way conversation that promoted understanding of our ways of working and of our processes.

A draft of the audit findings and recommendations soon followed and then an extra ask was delivered upon with Jack providing a verbal update of assurance to the Vico Exec Team and also our Property Investment Committee.

I would recommend Jack and Pennington Choices to interrogate any process with a view to seeking systemic maturity, continual improvement, risk management and mitigation and also future assurance related controls and benefits.” – Director of Property Investment at Vico Homes