Awaab Ishak: Home where toddler died is still riddled with mould more than two years later
The home where Awaab Ishak died still has problems with damp and mould more than two years after his “tragic and preventable” death.
A new report into Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) paints a “disturbing picture” of life on the estate where the toddler died after being exposed to extensive mould in his family’s flat.
RBH has confirmed to Sky News that the flat – which is now home to a new tenant – still contains black mould, although it is not as prevalent as when the Ishak family lived there.
The latest investigation into the tragedy found a culture where staff dismissed residents out of hand, believing they knew better.
RBH employees held “prejudices and lazy assumptions” about asylum seekers and refugees, that left them struggling with inadequate – and sometimes dangerous – housing, according to the Housing Ombudsman.
One staff member said when residents complained about the mould and living conditions, a manager told her because “most of the residents are refugees” they “were lucky to have [a] roof over head”.
Awaab Ishak’s home
‘Disgusting’ attitudes on display
Richard Blakeway, from the Housing Ombudsman, said the attitudes on display were “frankly, disgusting”.
While RBH did conduct an independent review following Awaab’s death, this was done entirely by telephone because of the pandemic. It failed to identify the extensive damp and mould – present in 80% of homes – that a subsequent survey in 2022 found throughout the estate.
Of the 380 properties surveyed, 12 were branded as Category 1 hazards.
Two-year-old Awaab Ishak who died in December 2020.
The ombudsman said it is inevitable there are more residents out there living with “serious mould” and RBH has been given a three-month deadline to make progress on the failures outlined in the report.
Yvonne Arrowsmith, RBH Interim Chief Executive, said the organisation was not going to argue with the contents of the report.
Her predecessor, Gareth Swarbrick, was sacked in the wake of Awaab’s death while RBH was stripped of new funding and downgraded to “non-compliant” by the regulator for failing to act.
“We are really sorry to any residents that have not been treated with respect, that haven’t felt their voice has been heard. Because that’s just not acceptable,” she told Sky News.
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The report, she said, was “painful” and “uncomfortable” to read, but was also fairly “balanced”, with the ombudsman recognising where it was attempting to improve.
RBH has visited 5,000 properties since December to check for problems and is doing a 100% stock condition survey this year.
But Ms Arrowsmith denied the organisation is structurally racist, and said: “It was poor customer service”.
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Is Awaab’s death a defining moment for the housing sector?
Awaab’s family wrongly blamed
When mould issues were first reported by Awaab’s family, RBH focussed entirely on how his parents were using the home.
Previously, the inquest heard evidence from staff that the family had a “lifestyle of boiling food in pans on the stove” and assumptions had been made, on the basis of seeing a bucket, that the family practiced ritual bathing.
This assumption was based entirely on a member of staff’s “previous, irrelevant” interactions with other people in the same block of flats.
Awaab Ishak’s home
Mr Blakeway said the initial response by RBH to Awaab’s death was “inadequate” and “simply wrong”.
“There were misplaced views and derogatory comments about the family and the circumstances in which the family found themselves,” he said.
Read more:
Landlord’s ‘must act now after Awaab death’
‘Significant failings’ at RBH
What is Awaab’s law?
The ombudsman also found RBH lost most of its email data in 2020. This destroyed an audit trail for cases wrongly handled by email in the years previously, including that of Awaab’s family.
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Awaab ‘paid price for corporate neglect’
‘They blamed us for breathing too much’
The dismissive language was not restricted to just Awaab’s family either.
One tenant, who lives in a three-bedroom house managed by RBH, told Sky News most of the rooms are “useless” because of damp and mould.
Richard Kalanyos has a small child around Awaab’s age and first complained to his landlord two years ago about the problem.
“The bed has mould everywhere, the walls, around the window area too,” he said.
Richard Kalanyos
“Night or day, there’s always moisture. We heat the rooms a lot, losing money by heating, but it’s just too much.”
He said RBH sent someone to investigate, but they blamed him for having “too many people” in the property.
“They blamed us for breathing too much,” he said.
He continued: “But every day we leave the windows open.
“I was so angry, but what can I do? It was hopeless to try and get help.”
Richard Kalanyos’s home is still covered in damp and mould
‘RBH threw out my parent’s ashes’
Residents were often accused of using mould issues to try and get a bigger property, the ombudsman report found.
In one 2021 case, an RBH staff member admitted there was a “small amount of black mould in the property” but blamed it on the people living there.
In an internal email, sent after the inspection, they wrote: “There are three children and two adults living in the two bed home. So, that is the cause of the problem. Their frustration is that they want a bigger home and cant [sic] get one.”
And problems went even beyond RBH’s inability to deal with mould.
In another instance, a resident was given the wrong end date for her tenancy. RBH realised this but did not contact her to correct it. The woman had partially moved out and when she returned to finish getting her belongings she found the landlord had changed the locks.
They had also thrown away her belongings – including her parent’s ashes.
Mr Blakeway said the ombudsman is seeing “repeated failure” from a number of landlords, but the report should be a wake-up call, both for RBH and the housing sector as a whole.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove said: “This investigation lays bare the appalling failures by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing that led to Awaab Ishak’s tragic death. It is shocking that such inadequate standards and repeated tenant blaming were long-standing issues.
“This is absolutely unacceptable and I will continue to block government funding from RBH for new homes until it can prove each of its residents has a safe and secure home. New leadership at RBH is an important first step, but there is still much more to do.
“Our Social Housing Bill will hold failing landlords to account and in Awaab’s name, we are introducing a law so that hazards like damp and mould will have to be fixed within set time frames.”
Storm Bram has been named by the Irish weather service – with warnings for strong winds and heavy rain issued for parts of the UK and Ireland.
More than half a month’s rainfall could hit some parts of the UK in just a 24-hour period, the Met Office has warned.
Yellow and orange warnings are in place across Ireland today and tomorrow, with “very strong to gale force” winds forecast on Tuesday.
Check the weather forecast where you are
The Met Office said strong winds forecast from Monday evening through until Wednesday could cause disruption, with gusts of 50-60mph predicted widely and 70-80mph in some places.
A yellow weather warning for rain comes into effect from 6pm on Monday, and will be in place for 24 hours, covering parts of southwest England and Wales, and stretching to parts of Herefordshire and Hampshire.
The Met Office has also issued a yellow warning for high winds from Dorset to Cornwall and up to north Wales, in place from 10pm on Monday until 4pm on Tuesday.
It said transport networks could face disruption, with delays for high-sided vehicles on exposed routes and bridges, and coastal roads and seafronts affected by spray and large waves. Power outages are also possible.
For 24 hours from 6pm on Monday, up to 40mm of rain could fall in some areas, with 60-80mm of rain over Dartmoor and high ground in South Wales, which would amount to more than half the average monthly rainfall in December.
The predicted rainfall across southwest England and South Wales is expected to hit already saturated ground and could lead to difficult travel conditions.
An amber warning for wind has been issued for northwest Scotland on Tuesday.
Flying debris “could result in a danger to life” – and there could be damage to buildings and homes along with the risk of roofs being “blown off” due to the “very strong and disruptive winds”, the Met Office warned.
Forecasters added there was the potential for large waves and beach material “being thrown” across sea fronts, roads and properties.
There are also yellow warnings for wind and rain on Tuesday across Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and northern and southwest England.
Weather warnings issued for Tuesday. Pic: Met Office
Yellow warnings for wind have been issued for Scotland and parts of northern England on Wednesday.
The Met Office’s deputy chief meteorologist, Steven Keates, said: “A deepening area of low pressure will approach the UK from the southwest later on Monday, bringing with it heavy rain and strong winds, which are likely to affect the UK between late Monday and early Wednesday.
“The exact track, depth and timings of this low are uncertain, which makes it harder to determine where will be most impacted by strong winds and/or heavy rain.
“This system has the potential to cause disruption, and severe weather warnings are likely to be issued over the weekend as details become clearer. We therefore urge people to keep up-to-date with the latest Met Office forecast.”
The Met Office said the rest of the month remained unsettled, with further periods of low pressure predicted.
It also said it is too early to provide an accurate forecast for the Christmas period.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is heading to Downing Street once again, but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will be keen to make this meeting more than just a photo op.
On Monday the prime minister will welcome not only the Ukrainian president, but also E3 allies France and Germany to discuss the state of the war in Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will join Sir Keir in showing solidarity and support for Ukraine and its leader, but it’s the update on the peace negotiations that will be the main focus of the meet up.
The four leaders are said to be set to not only discuss those talks between Ukraine, the US and Russia, but also to talk about next steps if a deal were to be reached and what that might look like.
Ahead of the discussions, Sir Keir spoke with the Dutch leader Dick Schoof where both leaders agreed Ukraine’s defence still needs international support, and that Ukraine’s security is vital to European security.
But while Russia’s war machine shows no signs of abating, a warm welcome and kind words won’t be enough to satisfy the embattled Ukrainian president at a time when Russian drone and missile attacks continue to bombard Kyiv.
Keir Starmer welcoming Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Downing Street during a previous visit. Pic: AP
What is the latest in negotiations?
Over the weekend, Mr Zelenskyy said he had discussed “next steps” with US President Donald Trump’s advisers and was “determined to keep working in good faith”.
“The American representatives know the basic Ukrainian positions,” Mr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. “The conversation was constructive, although not easy.”
But on Sunday evening, ahead of an event at the Kennedy Center, President Trump said he was “disappointed” with Mr Zelenskyy, as was asked about the next steps in Russia-Ukraine talks following negotiations.
He said: “We’ve been speaking to President Putin and we’ve been speaking to Ukrainian leaders, including Zelenskyy, President Zelenskyy.
“And I have to say that I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t yet read the proposal. That was as of a few hours ago.
“His people love it. But he hasn’t – Russia’s fine with it. Russia’s you know, Russia, I guess, would rather have the whole country when you think of it. But Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy’s fine with it. His people love it but he hasn’t read it.”
Read more:
Ukraine has become Europe’s war – so why doesn’t it act like it?
Inside a secret underground military base in eastern Ukraine
On Saturday, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy, had told the Reagan National Defence Forum that efforts to resolve the conflict were in “the last 10 metres”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised new US security strategy over the weekend, adding that Russia hopes this would lead to “further constructive cooperation with Washington on the Ukrainian settlement”.
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