Awaab Ishak: Housing bosses sorry for mould death assumptions

A housing association that rented out a mouldy flat to Awaab Ishak's family has apologised for making "assumptions about lifestyle" when handling complaints.

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) said it would implement "further training" following the two-year-old's death.

The association added "we abhor racism".

The comments come after a coroner concluded Awaab died from a respiratory condition caused by exposure to mould.

His father raised the issue for three years but no action was taken before the toddler died in 2020.

The family said they had "no doubt at all that we were treated this way because we are not from this country and less aware of how the systems in the UK work".

In a series of tweets posted on Tuesday, the association said: "We did make assumptions about lifestyle and we accept that we got that wrong.

"We will be implementing further training across the whole organisation.

"We abhor racism in any shape or form and we know that we have a responsibility to all our communities."

The inquest into Awaab's death heard how a health visitor had also contacted RBH to raise the issue in July 2020 and an inspection that month found mould in the kitchen, bathroom and a bedroom cupboard needed treatment and said the mould was due to "normal daily living activities" and a lack of effective ventilation.

The court also heard from Richard Blakeway, the Housing Ombudsman for England, who said in general terms, there were some social landlords who took an approach which was "outdated, ineffective, sometimes dismissive, with an overemphasis on blaming lifestyle and placing responsibility on the resident".

RBH said it would "significantly accelerate" inspection of the homes in its portfolio and would "take immediate action" to get rid of damp and mould.

"RBH and all the housing sector must now treat damp and mould as one of our critical housing safety issues," it added.

"We know our words will not take away the pain felt by his family, nor will they immediately heal the hurt and the strength of feeling which is justifiably being felt in Rochdale and across the country."

RBH also said an experienced interim external chief executive would be brought in as soon as possible, following the sacking of Gareth Swarbrick.

Mr Swarbrick, who was appointed in 2008, initially apologised for the organisation's response over the mould but rejected calls to quit his job, saying he had the board's "full backing".

But on Saturday, the RBH board removed Mr Swarbrick saying it was "no longer tenable" to keep him in post.

Awaab's inquest, which concluded last week, heard his father Faisal Abdullah - who came from Sudan to the UK in 2016 and was joined by his wife Aisha Amin a year later - reported mould in their flat to RBH in 2017 and was told to paint over it.

In June 2020, the family contacted solicitors and initiated a claim over the recurring mould issue, but policy meant any repairs would not be done until an agreement had been reached.

The inquest heard Awaab had consistently suffered from cold and respiratory issues. He died after being rushed to hospital with shortness of breath in December that year.

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