News

The serious issue of damp and mould was addressed at a special event hosted by Flagship Group, the east of England’s largest social housing provider.

Flagship staff and board members were joined by representatives from local councils, housing associations and other bodies for the event at Carrow Road football stadium in Norwich.

Around 60 attendees heard a presentation by Nadhia Khan, executive director of customer and community at Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), about the changes that had been made in the organisation following the tragic death of Awaab Ishak due to prolonged exposure to damp and mould in his home.

Awaab, who lived on the RBH-owned Freehold estate in Rochdale, died just a week after his second birthday on December 21, 2020.

Ms Khan said: “The thoughts of everyone at RBH remain with Awaab's parents and his family. This was a tragic case that resulted from failings at RBH. We are very clear it should never have happened.

“We have promised to learn from what went wrong, put things right, and share what we have learned. Thank you to Flagship Group for providing another opportunity for us to share our experiences.

She said although RBH had planned upgrades to the home that could have prevented damp and mould, the works did not go ahead because there was an active disrepair claim, but no agreement from the family’s solicitor over the works schedule.

Ms Kahn spoke passionately about the devastating impact of Awaab’s death on his family, and the backlash faced by RBH’s staff.

It led to the introduction of Awaab's Law as part of the Social Housing Regulation Act 2023, which requires landlords to investigate and fix reported health hazards within specified timeframes.

David Armstrong. Flagship’s chief operating officer and board member, said the issue of damp and mould demanded urgent action and attention.

Mr Armstrong said: “Access to safe, secure, affordable housing is a fundamental human right.

“This session has been a call to action for all of us in the housing sector, emphasising our collective responsibility towards the safety and wellbeing of our residents.

“We welcome Awaab's Law, and we are committed to working tirelessly to ensure that such a tragedy never happens in our properties.

“We will continue to work with our tenants and partners to understand the best to prevent damp and mould.

“We already meet many of the Better Social Housing Review's recommendations but are working to make sure that these, along with the tenant standard measures, are a key priority for our continued improvement.

“We are confident that these measures will help us to create safe and healthy homes for our tenants.”

To find out more about damp and mould, how to deal with it and how we can help, follow this link.