The government has announced that a rapid review of guidance to landlords about health risks from damp and mould will take place following the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak last year.
The housing and health secretaries, Michael Gove and Steve Barclay, said new guidance would be published by the summer with the UK Health Security Agency involved in the review.
The move comes after the coroner for north Manchester, Joanne Kearsley, last November instructed ministers to take action “to prevent future deaths” after she concluded the toddler’s death was caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his parent’s flat rented from Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, a social landlord.
Last week it emerged that two other young children living in a mouldy council flat in Greenwich have been hospitalised with lung problems.
The council confirmed it had carried out works on leaks at the property in 2021 and more recently and had now “medically reprioritised” Charlotte Green’s family for a new home.
Reforming tenant rights is becoming an increasingly pressing political priority.
The 2021 census this month showed the number of households renting has more than doubled in the last two decades in England and Wales, as homeownership rates fell.
Five million households are now private renting – equivalent to one in five – up from 3.9 million in 2011.
However, in 2021 almost a quarter of private rented homes were rated non-decent, with one in 10 suffering a damp problem, according to the English Housing Survey.
Following her damning inquest into Awaab’s death, Kearsley told Gove and Barclay in November that the government’s 16-year-old housing safety rating system did not reflect the known health risks posed by damp and mould.
She also found private renters do not have access to the housing ombudsman to have complaints investigated independently and said it was wrong that social housing landlords so often waited for agreement from tenants or their lawyers before fixing faults.
Gove said: “We will work closely with Awaab’s family to deliver tougher laws on damp and mould.”
“Awaab Ishak’s death was a tragedy, which shone a light on the appalling conditions that can exist in the social housing sector and we must do all we can to ensure it never happens again,” he added. “We have already taken tough action against failing landlords – blocking Rochdale Boroughwide Housing from receiving taxpayers’ money to build new homes until it can prove it is a responsible landlord and warning others that they will face similar consequences unless they dramatically raise standards.”
Gove hopes that the government’s social housing bill will strengthen the powers of the regulator to ensure tenants are listened to and their concerns dealt with quickly and fairly, “with unlimited fines for failing landlords”.
Toddler’s death from mould described as a ‘defining moment’ for housing
“Rapid review”? The poor little boy died over 2 years ago with the inquest publishing its results over 2 months ago. This response is anything but rapid.
We’re in the midst of winter, in the height of an energy price crisis. Surely now is the best time to issue new guidance on damp and mould?!
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What happened to Awaab Ishaak was awful and it was clear that Rochdale Housing made mistakes.
Further, particularly with the price of energy being what it is today, it is no wonder that tenants reduce their heating to make ends meet. This means that they will automatically reduce ventilation because in cold weather, the last thing you want to do is open a window.
And, finally, I realise that there really are slum landlords out there that really are the cause of the problem.
BUT, and please keep in mind that I firmly believe all of the above to be true before you reply to my post… I am certainly not victim blaming here.
In my experience over 30 years of inspecting and managing hundreds & hundreds of properties, it is often the lifestyle of the tenants that causes mould problems.
I have witnessed landlords spending thousands of pounds installing property wide active ventilation to make barely a dent in the problem.
I have seen perfectly lovely properties that have been rented for years with no problems turn into buildings riddled with mould.
I have seen mouldy properties turn into beautiful havens with nothing more than a lick of paint and a change of tenants.
Is this an education thing? Maybe. Is it purely a money thing? Maybe.
Is it a landlord thing? Sometimes, but less often than the media would have you believe.
After all, Victorian houses in particular (but I’m realistically talking about anything with a suspended timber floor and chimneys) were never designed to have their chimney ******* sealed up, hardwood flooring installed, an internally recycling extractor fan in the kitchen, typically no fan at all in the bathroom, and draught proof double glazing installed. Instead they were draughty by design. Solid brick walls with rainwater from the outside and condensation from the inside all at the same time can take all summer long to dry out and then for rain/ condensation cycle to repeat again.
But many 1960’s flats that were originally built with Crittal windows are little different. They have cavity walls, but that may not help if the double glazing has no trickle ventilation.
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The Welsh Government issued a tenants guide to damp and mould in 2016 and anyone can download it from Rent Smart Wales web site.
Notably it highlights that many causes of condensation and are not related to the property standards but not managed by tenants.
If you can swipe mould … its never been wiped, is certainly linked to tenants lifestyle.
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