Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will institute a special inquiry into the causes of dampness in both pre- and post-war housing and into new research to produce materials to combat dampness in otherwise satisfactory housing stock.
§ Sir George YoungI do not consider a special inquiry is required. There is already a considerable body of work in hand, including that sponsored by my Department at the Building Research Establishment, into the damp caused by condensation and moisture penetration. My hon. Friend also establinshed last year the Housing Defects Prevention Unit at BRE to analyse defects in public sector housing and provide technical information on how these can be both avoided and cured. The unit is steered by a joint LAA-DOE committee and is preparing a series of defect action sheets, a number of which will be on aspects of dampness. These sheets will be sent regularly to public housing interests and, in collaboration with the NHBC, the private housing sector. It is for the industry to undertake new research into materials to combat dampness.