Families still ‘living in mouldy homes’ two years after death of boy

Anne-Marie Scoble says there is damp everywhere in her flat (Image: The Mirror)Families on the estate where two-year-old Awaab Ishak died from prolonged exposure to mould say they are still living in damp conditions two years after the tragedy.The 376-property estate in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, has kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms soaked in damp and caked with black mould.Now landlords Rochdale Boroughwide Housing have promised to take action, the Mirror reports.Ana Navaneethan, 39, invited the Mirror into the tiny two-bedroom flat where she, her husband, 15-year-old son, and 10-year-old daughter have lived for six years.Reporter Nick Sommerlad said the musty smell hit his throat the minute she opened the front door.The kitchen cupboards were black with mould and the metal work was rusting.The day before, she claimed she had found her son’s duvet sodden due to damp. The cupboards in Anna Navaneethan’s flat are black with mould, she says (Image: The Mirror)She said: “It smells so badly. We try to spend as little time in here as possible during the day. We are all on inhalers, all four of us. We never used one before we moved here and there is no family history of asthma. As soon as we clean it, it is back within days. It is not nice, we would like to show it clean.”She said the housing association had visited, but simply told them to “keep the windows open”.Ana said: “We try to do this but it is getting cold. Our gas and electric bills have gone up from £50 to £107 and they are due to go up again.”Ivana Tonga, 19, has lived in her flat all her life. Her family of five, including her one-year-old sister, share a three-bedroom flat.She said: “The mould was spreading across the carpet and we had to replace the floor. The bathroom ceiling is still covered in mould. We’ve had to repaint the ceiling.”It has been bad as long as we have been here. The council saw it and gave us a leaflet.” Ivnaa Tonga’s bathroom is full of mould (Image: The Mirror)Anne-Marie Scoble, 53, lives alone in her flat where there “is damp everywhere”.She said: “Since I moved in two and a half years ago my lungs have been really bad. I wake up at night feeling like I am choking. I clean the mould but it comes back. This is the worst place I’ve lived. I am on a waiting list to move. I can’t wait.”Another tenant, who did not want to give his name, said he had been stuck in his damp and mouldy apartment since he had a stroke 10 years ago.He said: “The housing association came to have a look and I thought they were going to fix it. But they told me if I didn’t like it then I could move.”The black mould is everywhere and it is a depressing issue. I do cough, but I don’t know if it’s related.”Another resident, Tonya, has lived on the estate for more than two years and says the damp has “always been in there”.She said: “We were decorating and the wallpaper just came away and it was wet and black underneath. The plaster came away too. You can still smell it.”Damp and mould is not universal on the estate and some tenants told us they had no problems. But more than half of those the Mirror spoke to had issues.A Rochdale Boroughwide Housing statement said: “We have visited every home in Freehold to carry out a survey of each flat to check for damp or mould issues.”As a result of these surveys, we are spending over £1.2m installing positive input ventilation units in each flat on Freehold to improve air quality, circulation and to reduce the possibility of condensation and mould.”These works will also involve installing new extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom.”This contract is in place now and the programme of work starts on 5 December 2022.”Ana, Ivana and Anne-Marie have had surveys carried out on their homes and the necessary work has been scheduled.” There are 376 properties on the estate (Image: The Mirror)Tory MP Chris Clarkson told the Commons he had seen photos of another Rochdale Boroughwide Housing home in nearby Middleton “caked in black mould and rising damp”.His constituent and her children were “severely ill because of these conditions”.Mr Clarkson said: “RBH are modern-day slumlords.”The latest British Housing survey found mould and damp affecting 839,000 homes.Housing ombudsman Richard Blakeway reported seeing “a dramatic increase in the case work on damp and mould” in social housing.The problem will get worse this winter as the energy crisis makes it more expensive for the 120,000 social housing tenants and 176,000 private renters who live with mould to open windows to ventilate damp homes.RBH chief executive Gareth Swarbrick has faced criticism over his pay, which was £185,000, including £28,000 in pension contributions, last year.Mr Swarbrick has had two pay rises in two years worth £27,000.Jim McManus, president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said: “Sadly, the rise in energy bills means that some people will be unable to heat their homes properly this winter.”Fuel poverty like this can lead to cold, damp living conditions causing a build up of mould and can cause serious illness. Good housing and an end to fuel poverty are essential.”Housing Secretary Michael Gove accused RBH of a “terrible dereliction of duty”.He said he had been in touch with local MPs to discuss “finding suitable accommodation for tenants in Rochdale who are still enduring unacceptable conditions”.He also agreed with Labour MP Diane Abbott that Awaab Ishak’s family had been “victims of prejudice”.Mr Gove revealed that at least 2.3 million homes failed to meet the Decent Homes Standard.Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “Too many landlords are being let off the hook.”But he said he had been “encouraged by the positive response” from Mr Gove to proposals to improve housing standards.