Damp and mould in homes could increase deaths, housing expert warns

The housing ombudsman for England, Richard Blakeway recently remarked in a Sky News Daily podcast that ‘there is a real risk’ of further fatalities caused by damp and mould in homes, following the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak.

Blakeway went on to comment on how incidents of mould are already increasing, as per The Guardian:

In the aftermath of the terrible revelations about Awaab Ishak, and the horror of a two-year-old boy dying from exposure to mould in his home, referrals of cases to me have leapt by 33%. That should give us all pause.

Other cases

Another resident who suffers from mould in her home is Natasha, a parent of three, who lives in social housing run by Cornwall Housing in Launceston. She told Sky News that the mould and damp in her property is now so severe that her daughter Frankie is suffering from respiratory problems:

Frankie gets chest infections quite a lot. And she's also got a skin pigmentation at the moment, which is due to the mould spores.

I can't keep her safe. I have addressed this with the council, and I just seem to be getting fobbed off.

Cornwall Council replied by saying:

We take seriously our responsibilities as the landlord of more than 10,000 social homes across Cornwall. We cannot comment on specific cases, but we have worked with the tenant to address the concerns identified.

What needs to be done

Blakeway believes the change needs to start with landlords as the problem with mould is generally a structural issue regarding lack of insulation and ventilation. However, Blakeway says some landlords try to shift the blame on to the tenant, as per The Guardian:

Fundamentally, this is about the role of landlords. Culture matters, and the way some of them behave towards their tenants must change.

It must be genuine change. Complaints are an indicator of culture; and some of the behaviour I see, including in response to some of our decisions, can be poor.

Blakeway particularly flagged the use of language such as ‘lifestyle choices’ and ‘behaviours’ in communications from landlords as absolving themselves of the responsibility.

He hopes this type of language will soon be removed from the vernacular of landlords and that they will begin to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to mould and damp now that the seriousness of the issue has been highlighted, as per Housing Ombudsman.

Sources used:

- Sky News 'Mouldy homes: Deaths 'could happen again', warns housing ombudsman'

- The Guardian 'Poor Awaab Ishak died of mould in his home. Take it from me, this tragedy could happen again'

- Housing Ombudsman 'Ombudsman writes open letter to social landlords urging renewed focus on damp and mould approach'