When a property deteriorates and falls into disrepair, it can have adverse effects on your health. If you’re renting, this is completely unacceptable, and your housing association or local council should take action to rectify the issue.
On 28th June 2023, the Regulator of Social Housing published a report on damp and mould in social housing stock. The paper was created in response to the Coroner’s report on the tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in Rochdale, in which damp and mould present in the toddler’s home was found to have contributed to his death.
When renting a property, tenants have certain rights that are protected by law. One of these rights is the right to live in a safe and well-maintained home. However, sometimes landlords fail to maintain their properties, leading to disrepair and potentially hazardous living conditions for tenants. In such cases, tenants have two options: they can make a housing disrepair claim and/or file a complaint with the Housing Ombudsman, after the landlord’s internal complaints process has been exhausted.
Mrs Tuner, who lives in the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, brought a claim against their social housing landlord Southern Housing at the start of July 2022.
Mould and damp growing, exterior doors that don’t lock, electric wiring exposed, rat droppings everywhere and toilet bowl encrusted with faeces are some of the issues which this mother of three has to deal every day.
Social housing landlords will have to investigate and fix damp and mould in their properties within strict new time limits, Housing Secretary Michael Gove announced Thursday 9 February.
Since the conditions in which Awaab Ishak lived were made public and after the publication of the health problems that he suffered which led to his death, the Government and The Housing Ombudsman announced new regulations to monitor the quality and conditions of homes owned by local councils and housing associations.
Following the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak from a respiratory condition exacerbated by damp and mould present in his flat, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) sent letters to registered providers of social housing reminding them:
This week’s ruling by a Coroner that two-year-old Awaab Ishak died of a respiratory condition caused by exposure to the mould in his flat has shaken the social housing industry and left politicians and advocates for healthy, safe homes demanding to know how such a thing could have happened in 2020 (the year Awaab died).
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