Cavity Wall Insulation for Flats

Aaardy

We are a residents association in a block of flats built in 2003.  A couple of our flats have had bad cases of damp and mould.  We had this investigated and it appears the cavity wall insulation has gaps in it  none of us can locate the original cavity wall insulation guarantee (we have asked the original developer and NHBC etc as well).  The whole energy efficiency sector seems absolutely mind blowing to us.  We have had one quote from a company to remove the current insulation and install new, but it is stupidly expensive (tens of thousands).  It seems if you have an individual house you can get free cavity wall insulation via utility suppliers or local Government, but because we are flats, we can't get any funding.  Is this right? Some of our residents are on low incomes, but obviously this varies flat to flat. What's the best way to get our cavity wall insulation back to to a good standard so that everyone in the block benefits without it costing most of us a second mortgage! Any advice on how to tackle this in a block of flats in the most cost efficient way is most welcome! Thanks so much.

Neil_Jones

So who actually owns the flats?  Are you renting?

If you're renting then its the responsibility of whoever owns the flats to deal with the cavity wall.  The association doesn't come into it, that's basically just a sounding off platform to get various local issues profiled and highlighted (and discussed), it doesn't mean you become responsible for fixing things.

macman

The leaseholder would be responsible, do you each have a share of it?

FreeBear

Aaardy said: Any advice on how to tackle this in a block of flats in the most cost efficient way is most welcome!

The first step would be to commission a thermographic survey (best done on a real cold day). This should identify any suspect areas that might be lacking CWI. It may then be possible to blow extra insulation in to the problem areas. That would be the cheapest solution without having to try and remove the existing CWI.

An alternative would be internal wall insulation inside each flat - This would be disruptive for the residents, but could at least be done flat by flat.

Bottom line though - The HA should be tackling this and not leaving it down to the residents to find solutions.

Aaardy

Thanks for your replies. We all own the leasehold to our flats and the residents collectively are responsible for the maintenance of the building via the lease agreements.  The freeholder doesn't have any responsibility for maintenance.  That's what we pay our service charges for.  There is no HA involved.

Internal wall insulation in each flat sounds interesting - I haven't come across this before.  Any recommendations for a company that may do this as it would save on getting the whole block done.

I just wondered if there was any funding available for flat owners.  Just seems to only be funding for those who own houses.

Scot_39

Aaardy said:

We are a residents association in a block of flats built in 2003.  A couple of our flats have had bad cases of damp and mould.  We had this investigated and it appears the cavity wall insulation has gaps in it  none of us can locate the original cavity wall insulation guarantee (we have asked the original developer and NHBC etc as well).  The whole energy efficiency sector seems absolutely mind blowing to us.  We have had one quote from a company to remove the current insulation and install new, but it is stupidly expensive (tens of thousands).  It seems if you have an individual house you can get free cavity wall insulation via utility suppliers or local Government, but because we are flats, we can't get any funding.  Is this right? Some of our residents are on low incomes, but obviously this varies flat to flat. What's the best way to get our cavity wall insulation back to to a good standard so that everyone in the block benefits without it costing most of us a second mortgage! Any advice on how to tackle this in a block of flats in the most cost efficient way is most welcome! Thanks so much.

If by implication and the fact you have had survey - you are saying that the gaps in the insulation are leading to the dampness - due to internal humidity levels and condensation on cold external walls ?

Many a landlord - including social housing - will simply point to issues around temperature levels (think 14C plus to avoid mould) and ventillation as the problem - and so might go on that attack - rather than make any attempt to address issues around cavity wall insulation.

For domestic properties wrongly "retro-" fitted with cavity wall - and actually causing dampness to transfer to internal walls - this has been known to cost £1000s to remove - a quick google comes up with links suggesting - ave £1700 for a typical sized home, or  min £20 per square meter - depending on filling and region etc.

Many "green" grant companies were "created and then folded" - leaving homeowners to pay when problems emerged.

Your overheads - like scaffolding etc - likely to be more of an issue too.

If a condensation / heating issue - have you considered alternatives - like internal insulation to external walls - instead ?