Lessons must be learned from Awaab’s tragic death
A COUPLE of years ago our daughter moved out of her university halls and into student digs.
She was thrilled with the place; a maisonette in East London which she shared with a group of friends.
And it was lovely. All freshly painted with a nice kitchen and a bathroom that was a little old fashioned but serviceable.
The block it was in was inhabited by families with kids or older folk, some of whom grew veggies in the communal area out front and passed the spare tomatoes her way.
As a mum I was relieved. It seemed safe, clean.
But that was in August.
By October black mould had started to appear in the corners of the bedrooms and as much as she and her friends bleached it away, it came back.
By the end of the year it had spread from the corner of her room across the ceiling, a malevolent stain that would not be vanquished.
We rang the agents for the landlords who suggested it was condensation and advised keeping a window open but that didn’t work.
We rang again and they came round and repainted but it came back, worse than ever.
Clothes had to be thrown out, bedding destroyed.
What looked like fungi were discovered growing within the black mess now creeping down the walls...
The agents continued to blame condensation and the tenants and stopped returning our calls and emails.
We stopped paying the rent, and in the end she and her friends moved out.
I am sure when they left, still in dispute with the landlord, the whole place was subsequently redecorated ready for the next occupiers. Good as new.
My daughter and her mates were lucky. They had the ability to clear out and leave the wretched place behind.
That wasn’t an option available to the family of little Awaab Ishak who died in 2020 after prolonged exposure to mould in his home in Rochdale.
It isn’t an option either to the many, many families living in similar conditions around the country.
An inquest into Awaab’s death found he lost his life as a result of a respiratory condition caused by that foul blackness, and that action to treat and prevent the mould was not taken.
How can this happen? The answer to that can be summed up in one word: failure.
Failure by the appropriate authorities to take action. Failure to listen. Failure to act. Failure to put the life of a little boy above all other concerns.
There is now a move to compel housing associations not to allow anyone else to suffer in damp and mouldy social housing.
There must be a change in law giving social landlords deadlines to sort out problems with mould.
It won’t bring that poor little boy back. But it might just prevent another tragedy – and focus the minds of landlords everywhere on the simple truth that people must always come before profit.