Housing body that ran flat where Awaab Ishak died received 106 formal complaints about damp or mould in a year
The housing association that managed the flat in which toddler Awaab Ishak was killed by mould received 106 formal complaints about damp or mould in their properties over the last year, Sky News can reveal.
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) confirmed the figure in a statement where it also said it looks after around 12,500 homes.
A former RBH employee, who resigned because of a “toxic culture” within the organisation, disputes the figure for the amount of complaints and claims there will be “hundreds more” than what has been recorded.
The housing association, which has come under fire over the death of Awaab due to prolonged exposure to damp and mould, said they are “proactively contacting” all of their customers to remind them about how to contact them if they experience any damp or mould in their homes.
Speaking to Sky News, “Eleanor”, who wanted to protect her identity, claimed: “RBH have been putting profit before people for a long time. They try to cut corners and make them more cash-rich. I’ve been in meetings where it has all been about cost-cutting and how much can we save?”
She added: “That has a knock-on effect to the tenants because they’re not going to get that level of service they need. It’s a death by a thousand cuts.”
When asked if she felt others could die at the hands of RBH’s properties if there isn’t drastic change, she replied: “Absolutely. If it’s happened once, it can happen again.”
When asked to confirm how many complaints about damp and mould it had received in a year, RBH said in its statement to Sky News: “We look after around 12,500 homes and over the last 12 months we have had 106 complaints about damp and mould.
“We provide a full response to initial complaints on average within five days.”
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‘More could die’
‘We’re breathing it all into our lungs’
Over the last week Sky News has witnessed at least six homes with mould and damp at the Freehold Estate, where Awaab and his family were living between 2017 and 2020, even two years on from his death.
Uwezo lives with young and old people in the flat below and is now worried for his mum’s health because of the mould which has spread from his bathroom to the kitchen.
He told Sky News: “It’s not obviously safe because we have among us grandchildren and seeing what happened to that poor child, it’s not safe to see this happening like this. The ventilation is too old it needs to be changed.”
He added: “We’re breathing it all into our lungs. My mother already doesn’t have the best health and so it’s really heartbreaking to see my mum living in this environment.”
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‘Awaab’s death must not be in vain’
Housing secretary puts RBH on notice
Concern about RBH’s ability was flagged by Housing Secretary Michael Gove at a select committee hearing.
The MP has put RBH on notice after they sacked their chief executive on Saturday – but he now feels the blame goes beyond Gareth Swarbrick.
He told the committee: “Even when in RBH’s case they had these problems brought to their attention the board thought it appropriate to keep the chief executive in place, and it seems to me you shouldn’t blame one individual, ultimately chief executive and the board should carry the can.”
Read more:
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Former chief executive of RBH, Gareth Swarbrick, has been sacked
Asked about Mr Gove’s remarks, a spokesperson for RBH said: “The priority for the board right now is to bring in an external interim chief executive to lead the organisation through this period of change and they are working hard to make that happen as soon as possible.
“Of course the board is also focused on its own role and they will be discussing any changes that need to be made once the interim CEO is in place.”
They said around three-quarters of RBH employees live in Rochdale Borough and many are RBH tenants.
They added that in an employee survey over 85% of 400 employees who responded said they felt well supported by RBH, over 80% said they were proud of how RBH supports customers and colleagues and over 90% felt trusted to do their job.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics.
We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.
“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.
It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.
Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.
But there is a new concept in town.
From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.
A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre
It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.
Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.
One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.
Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility
It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.
The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.
There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.
Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment
There are eight bays users can inject in
We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.
The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.
The aftercare area
Read more: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’
Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.
The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.
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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.
One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.
The question is what does success look like?
The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.
It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.
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