NEWS · Housing Market
The Housing Market Is Cooling — What That Means If You Are Renovating
Transaction volumes are down for the third straight quarter. We asked surveyors and builders which upgrades still return their cost.
Rental Standards Are Tightening: What Tenants Can Now Ask For
Damp and mould, minimum insulation and heating that actually works.
By Naomi Park, Kitchen Editor · Published August 6, 2026 · 2 min read
Photograph: Travel Adventures / StockSnap
Damp and mould are no longer treated as a lifestyle problem to be lectured about. Enforcement now looks at ventilation, insulation and heating capability — the building, not the tenant.
Document with dates and readings
Photographs with timestamps and a cheap hygrometer log carry far more weight than a description of a smell.
Ventilation is a landlord obligation
Extract fans that do not vent outside, or that are underpowered for the room, are a defect rather than a preference.
Purifiers treat symptoms
A filter helps the air you breathe today. It does not fix a cold bridge, and accepting one instead of a repair weakens a claim.
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