LOTI is building on its successful damp and mould sensor pilot to support the ambitious goals of Warmer Homes London (WHL) and help social landlords prepare for Awaab’s Law. By combining environmental sensor data with retrofit and energy consumption data, we’re unlocking crucial insights into building performance and damp and mould at a pan-London scale.

Building on Success: The LOTI Sensor Pilot

Our initial pilot, which ran from February 2024 to June 2025, involved 17 boroughs deploying temperature and humidity sensors in social housing. The primary goal was to flag damp and mould risks early, assess the effectiveness of interventions, and support resident engagement. The pilot was a success, with participating boroughs committing to deploying an additional 3,500 sensors.

However, scaling the project revealed key challenges, including limited internal capacity, difficulty in building a strong business case, and issues around resident mistrust and consent.

The Strategic Partnership with Warmer Homes London

LOTI is now taking this work forward by aligning with the WHL Social Housing Fund Strategic Partnership. The Strategic Partnership includes 21 London Boroughs and 6 Housing Associations committed to retrofitting over 8,224 homes in three years.

This collaboration is focused on establishing the data infrastructure necessary to measure the outcomes of pan-London retrofit programmes. A core component is the widespread adoption of IoT sensors across SHF properties.

Sensors: The Essential Insight into Retrofit and Health

The deployment of temperature and humidity sensors, combined with energy consumption data (including smart meter data) and retrofit intervention costs, provides three critical areas of insight:

1. Measuring Retrofit Performance: Sensors offer a before-and-after picture of building performance. We can track whether interventions are delivering the expected improvements in thermal comfort and energy efficiency. By combining sensor data with smart meter data, we can even calculate the Heat Transfer Coefficient (HTC), providing insights for assessing value for money, thermal comfort and residents’ experience of retrofit. 
2. Addressing Damp and Mould Risk: This is perhaps the most immediate benefit. Data can proactively identify conditions where damp and mould are likely to occur, allowing landlords to intervene before the problem becomes severe. Crucially, the data can also identify if retrofit activities themselves are inadvertently leading to increased damp and mould risk, enabling rapid remediation and better design for future projects.
3. Preparing for Awaab’s Law: Sensors are a vital tool for social landlords preparing for the deadlines introduced by Awaab’s Law. While the sensors don’t trigger the legal timescales for investigation, they enable a proactive, data-driven approach to managing housing.

Scaling sensor adoption across London

LOTI’s role is to support members of the Strategic Partnership to scale the adoption of sensors and securely and ethically share sensor data at a London scale.

There are different pathways that LOTI will be pursuing in order to achieve this:

1. Establish a Working Group to share knowledge and facilitate peer-to-peer learning. 
2. Develop guidance and resources that will support partners to overcome barriers identified in LOTI’s pilot.
3. Co-develop insights with partners and Warmer Homes London to incentivise data sharing and ensure insights provide maximum value. 
4. Work with Warmer Homes London to design a subsidy scheme that will support partners to adopt sensors quickly and at scale. 

To stay up to date with the latest on our sensor project, visit our project page.