The damp homes issue has been allowed to fester... it has been left like an endemic cancer that has made people ill... we need a housing revolution

The number of people living in damp homes across Renfrewshire has soared as the area is named the third-worst place to live in socially-rented accommodation.

- EDEL KENEALY

Figures shared with the Paisley Daily Express show there were 4,455 reports of damp and mould within the local authority during 2024.

More than a quarter of those homes - 1,555 - are owned by Renfrewshire Council.

The damp homes figure - which has rocketed by 178 per cent over five years - means Renfrewshire has the highest number of damp and mould complaints outside of the country’s two biggest cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

However, it only has one fifth of the social housing stock in Glasgow with around 20,000 homes rented by social landlords in the area.

The data was obtained through Freedom of Information requests by our sister title Glasgow Live.

And the true number of people living in mouldy homes is expected to be much higher - with multiple social housing providers only recently starting to gather data, while the figures do not include private tenants.

Poor quality housing, lack of information on how to deal with dampness, skyrocketing energy bills, lack of maintenance and the age of housing stock have all been blamed for the rise in reports.

Sean Clerkin, campaign coordinator for Scottish Tenants Organisation, said: "The two biggest towns in Renfrewshire, Paisley and Johnstone, there are a lot of damp homes in those areas.

"In my work with the Scottish Tenants Organisation, two thirds of my caseload is around damp and mouldy homes and people suffering health problems as a result. It is exacerbating issues such as asthma and respiratory problems.

"The issue has also been allowed to fester, it has been left like an endemic cancer that has made people ill."