HEALTH LEADER SPEAKS OUT ON HOUSING CONDITIONS
AGP and health leader has called for it to be required by law that homes are inspected annually for mould and damp, saying that Rochdale has some of the ‘worst, outdated terrace housing in Greater Manchester’.
The demand comes amid fears that thousands of babies and toddlers are being admitted to hospital in England each year with lung conditions probably linked to damp and mould-ridden homes.
“We know it’s killing children,” Oldham mayor and GP Dr Zahid Chauhan said. “But the country is trying to fix a social problem by prescribing chemicals’.”
He described routinely attending to patients suffering with health conditions caused and made worse by living in squalid conditions.
The GP has now urged the Government to make annual mould and damp checks on homes a statutory requirement, starting with compelling councils and housing associations to inspect homes they operate, as well as private landlords. As many as 12,825 homes across Greater Manchester need to be treated for damp and mould problems.
“We have some of the worst, outdated terrace housing in Greater Manchester – especially in places like Rochdale and Oldham – which dates all the way back to the industrial revolution. That means there’s poor insulation, poor ventilation.
“To make matters worse, we have a lot of rented accommodation here which isn’t up to standard as well, many people who live in those homes don’t qualify for grants.
“And, for example, we have a lot of children and adults who suffer from asthma and eczema – they will have constant flare-ups living in conditions like that.
“On top of all that, the cost of living crisis is affecting families here, people can’t afford to warm their homes.
“For children, that means missing lots of school, more health needs. When they get colds, it’ll become even more difficult.
“These things put pressure on the health service and on parents because they have to take more time off work to look after their children.”
Residents in Greater Manchester have long disproportionately suffered from cardiac and respiratory illnesses, amid higher rates of deprivation. Historically, the region has been poorer than parts of the south of England, meaning more families are left struggling and councils have been disproportionately underfunded, particularly during austerity.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said the state of Britain’s housing was “now a crucial issue for child health” and called on ministers to launch a clear way for parents to report poor air quality in rented and social housing, The Guardian reported. One in five UK households now lives in private rented homes, with costs for tenants rising despite worsening conditions and squalor.
Damp is also five times more common in private rentals than in owneroccupied homes. Government figures suggest that more than 520,000 rented properties in England have hazards that pose ‘a serious and immediate risk to a person’s health and safety’ – a large proportion of