This problem also occurred in a Fadesa development in Guadalmina,Spain. All lower floor apartments suffered during the first winter and owners returned to find smelly, damp, mouldy walls in their apartments. from ground level to about 18 inches. Fadesa had to hack out the walls and put in a proper damp proof course and, of course, all walls needed re decoration. I can't believe that they didn't learn a lesson from this. There was a lot of very angry investors.