'Defining moment' The boy killed by mould in family flat

Death of toddler from mould in flat a 'defining moment' for housing sector

- Mark Brown Robert Booth

A coroner has said the death of an "engaging, lively, endearing" two-year-old from prolonged exposure to mould in his family's flat should be a "defining moment" for the UK's housing sector.

Awaab Ishak died in 2020, eight days after his second birthday, as a direct result of black mould in the flat he lived in.

About 450,000 homes in England have problems with condensation and mould, and the verdict triggered calls from paediatric doctors for better reporting of air quality problems in homes and a warning from England's housing ombudsman, Richard Blakeway, that landlords must make plans to tackle the "real risk of worsening damp and mould issues" as energy bills soar.

Michael Gove, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, said the death was "an unacceptable tragedy" and "it beggars belief" that the landlord's chief executive was still in office. But he also admitted  the government had been too slow to toughen regulation of social housing.

"It's five years since the Grenfell tragedy, we should have been legislating earlier," he said. He also admitted fears about living conditions for renters hit by the cost of living crisis.

Greg Fell, the vice-president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said the verdict "tragically underscored" the "hidden risk" to public health posed by mould. "It's a significant threat," he said. "We are going into a winter where people will be turning the heating down in a way that encourages damp in our homes."