Building Healthier Homes: How Digital Twins Can Help Landlords Prevent Mould and Damp (in an Age of Awaab’s Law)

A Preventative Approach to Managing Moisture, Ventilation and Indoor Health

Damp and mould are among the most persistent and damaging problems facing UK housing today. Beyond structural impact, they affect residents’ health, wellbeing and trust, with well-documented cases highlighting the consequences of poor indoor environments and delayed intervention. Expectations are rising, and so is the need for proactive prevention instead of reactive repair. 

Yet many landlords are still reliant on traditional inspection cycles or tenant-reported issues. By the time mould becomes visible, the moisture that caused it may have been accumulating for months. What’s missing is real-time visibility into how homes are actually performing, every day, not just when someone is sent to look. 

A New Way to Understand Housing Health 

Digital twins are offering a new perspective on housing health. When applied to homes, they provide a live, data-rich picture of how each property behaves in use, tracking factors such as temperature, humidity, air quality and energy performance. 

For landlords, this means being able to see where condensation risks are forming, how ventilation systems are performing and whether insulation is working as designed. Instead of reacting to tenant complaints or periodic inspections, landlords can identify early signs of a problem and act before it affects residents. 

Early Action - Not Expensive Repairs Later 

The most effective way to tackle mould is to prevent conditions that allow it to form. A digital twin makes this possible by turning live sensor data into actionable insight. 

By monitoring humidity, temperature and ventilation performance, landlords can set thresholds for healthy indoor conditions. If moisture remains high or surface temperatures fall into a risk zone, alerts can be automatically sent to maintenance teams through Twinview. Early intervention becomes routine, preventing mould rather than responding to it. 

This approach reduces: 

• Costly remedial works 
• Repeat visits and long-term case management 
• Asset deterioration over time 
• Health risks and complaints 

Several UK-backed research programmes are already demonstrating how scalable and affordable this technology can become, supporting a future where every home is monitored for health as standard. 

Bridging Design, Construction and Living Conditions 

One of the persistent challenges in housing management is the gap between how a home was designed, how it was built and how it performs once occupied. Slight variations in insulation, heating controls or ventilation can have a significant impact on comfort and moisture control. 

A digital twin bridges this gap by linking accurate, traceable data from every stage of a home’s lifecycle. It can include information about building materials, construction methods and installed systems, overlaid with real-world performance data. When issues arise, housing teams can see exactly what has happened, where and why, eliminating guesswork and enabling faster, evidence-based repairs. 

Compliance, Responsibility and the Legal Backdrop: The Role of Awaab’s Law 

From 27 October 2025, Awaab’s Law came into force across the social housing sector in England. Under this legislation, social landlords are legally required to: 

• Investigate any significant damp or mould hazard once it becomes known.  
• For emergency hazards, including severe damp or mould situations, act within 24 hours. 
• For significant hazards, complete a full investigation within 10 working days and make the property safe within a short timeframe (with written communication to tenants soon after). 

This marks a fundamental shift in accountability: landlords can no longer treat mould as a “tenant lifestyle” issue, or delay response indefinitely. 

For many social landlords, and increasingly for private landlords as the regulatory environment catches up, this creates a demand not only for faster responses, but for systems capable of identifying risks before tenants complain or physical damage becomes visible. 

That’s Where Twinview Adds Real Value

With live monitoring and early-warning alerts, landlords can detect damp or condensation risk long before it becomes a significant hazard requiring urgent remediation. 

By maintaining a comprehensive “golden thread” of building design data, environmental readings and maintenance history, landlords will be able to demonstrate compliance with Awaab’s Law, showing not only that they respond to tenant reports, but that they proactively manage housing quality. 

This reduces legal and reputational risk, avoids emergency repair costs and helps prevent situations that might otherwise lead to serious harm or tragic outcomes. 

How Twinview Makes This Possible 

Twinview connects building property data with live operational and environmental information through a single browser-based platform. This allows landlords to compare the “as built” model with the “as lived in” reality, giving complete clarity over conditions, risks and performance patterns. 

With Twinview, landlords can: 

• See issues early: Real-time humidity and temperature alerts flag risk before mould develops. 
• Understand root causes: Live data visualised against the building model shows exactly where and why issues are occurring. 
• Target maintenance intelligently: Teams can prioritise the right homes and the right rooms, reducing unnecessary visits. 
• Maintain a golden thread of information: All performance history, maintenance actions and environmental readings are recorded, supporting compliance and demonstrating evidence of proactive management, a significant advantage in meeting the obligations under Awaab’s Law. 

Engaging Tenants and Building Shared Responsibility 

Digital twins can help rebuild trust between landlords and tenants. Twinview supports simplified dashboards that can be shared with residents, showing basic metrics such as humidity, air quality and energy use. 

By giving tenants access to this information, landlords can encourage shared responsibility, helping residents understand how everyday actions, like drying clothes indoors or blocking vents can affect air quality. When everyone sees the same data, it’s easier to have constructive conversations about solutions rather than disputes about blame. 

Towards Healthier, More Transparent Homes 

The challenge of damp and mould will not be solved overnight, but digital twins represent a meaningful step forward in prevention and accountability. By combining design knowledge with live environmental data, landlords gain the visibility they need to act early, protect residents and comply with evolving housing standards. 

Platforms like Twinview make this a reality by transforming building data into clear, actionable insight that leads to healthier homes, reduced costs, lower risk and stronger tenant relationships. 

If you’re exploring how real-time housing intelligence could support your damp and mould prevention strategy and help meet new regulatory obligations under Awaab’s Law, our team would be happy to discuss how Twinview can help.