We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
Housing Secretary Michael Gove held phone conversations with Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) CEO Gareth Swarbrick which were “unsatisfactory”. ITV News’s Daniel Hewitt claims Government sources said Mr Gove was left unsatisfied after a call with the housing association. It comes after Awaab Ishak died in 2020, eight days after his second birthday, as a direct result of black mould in the flat he lived in. His father repeatedly raised the issue with Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) but no action was taken. Following the death Mr Gove said the death was “an unacceptable tragedy” and that “it beggars belief” that the chief executive of the social housing provider was still in office.
A coroner said the death of two-year-old Awaab should be a “defining moment” for the UK’s housing sector.
England’s housing ombudsman, Richard Blakeway, said landlords must make plans to tackle the “real risk of worsening damp and mould issues” as energy bills soar.
In a statement, Awaab’s family said their lives had “changed forever” and were left “feeling absolutely worthless at the hands of RBH”.
“We cannot tell you how many health professionals we’ve cried in front of and RBH staff we have pleaded to, expressing concern for the conditions ourselves and Awaab have been living in,” they said.
Chief executive of RBH, Gareth Swarbrick said he was “devastated” by the death and the things the housing associations “got wrong”.
Mr Swarbrick said they “didn’t recognise the level of risk” to Awaab’s health.
he continued: “We allowed a legal disrepair process, widely used in the housing sector, to get in the way of promptly tackling the mould.
“We must make sure this can never happen again. Awaab’s death needs to be a wake-up call for everyone in housing, social care and health.
Mr Swarbrick continued: “We agree with the Coroner that the tragic death of Awaab will be and should be a defining moment for the housing sector.
“As a community-owned organisation, we support the diverse communities of Rochdale. We are proud of the work we do with all our tenants.”
DON’T MISS: Ministers ‘wasted billions’ on luxury party villa and vegan ice cream ahead of tax raid
Budget LIVE: Hunt unveils eye-watering tax rises and spending cuts behind closed doors
Speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday Mr Gove vowed to “name and shame” those who failed the toddler after the coroner rules that the home was “unfit for human habitation”.
Mr Gove said: “Awaab’s father first articulated his concerns in 2017. Others, including health professionals, also raised the alarm. But the landlord failed to take any kind of meaningful action.
“Rochdale Boroughwide Housing’s repeated failure to heed Awaab’s family’s pleas to remove the mould in their damp-ridden property was a terrible dereliction of duty.
“Worse still, the apparent attempts by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing to attribute the existence of mould to the actions of Awaab’s parents was beyond insensitive and deeply unprofessional.”
Source: Read Full Article