The housing body which owned the flat where toddler Awaab Ishak died following exposure to mold will be stripped of new government funding, Michael Gove has announced.
The housing secretary said Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) will not receive its expected £1m funding from the Affordable Homes Program (AHP) or receive any new AHP contracts for new homes until the regulator of social housing has concluded its investigation and the association can prove it is a responsible landlord.
Ministers will also continue to monitor housing standards of RBH properties closely, working with the regulator and ombudsman to ensure tenants have appropriate housing.
As part of a wider crackdown on poor standards within social housing, Mr Gove has also confirmed his intention to block any housing provider that breaches the regulator’s consumer standards from new AHP funding until they make improvements.
He will also consider stripping providers of existing AHP funding unless construction has already started on site.
Last week, a coroner ruled that Awaab, two, died from a respiratory condition caused by mold in a one-bedroom flat in December 2020 which was managed by RBH association.
The housing body has admitted that it “got things badly wrong” and said it has started to take “immediate action”.
Awaab’s parents, originally from Sudan, had repeatedly complained about the mould.
His family has accused the housing association of racism, saying there was “no doubt at all” they were “treated in this way” because they are not from the UK.
The toddler’s death sparked anger over the poor state of the home he and his family were forced to live in – leading to RBH chief executive Gareth Swarbrick being sacked.
In response to Awaab’s death, Mr Gove put social accommodation providers “on notice” and said it “must never be allowed to happen again”, in a letter to every English council leader and social housing provider
He said all councils and housing associations must raise the bar dramatically on standards and demanded urgent action where people complain about damp and mold.
The government has today awarded a share of £14bn for seven areas with high numbers of poor privately rented homes to crack down on rogue landlords and test new approaches to driving up standards.
This includes £2.3m for Greater Manchester – including Rochdale and surrounding councils – to increase the use of fines where a landlord is found to have committed an offence; £678,000 for Leeds to use behavioral science to change culture among landlords and £1.1m for Cornwall to create a database of private rented accommodation in the area.
Mr Gove said: “RBH failed its tenants so it will not receive a penny from additional taxpayers’ money for new housing until it gets its act together and does right by tenants.
“Let this be a warning to other housing providers who are ignoring complaints and failing in their obligations to tenants. We will not hesitate to act.
“Everyone deserves the right to live in safe, decent home and this government will always act to protect tenants.”
The regulator of social housing has demanded evidence from all housing association and local authority landlords this week showing they are identifying and dealing with damp and mold issues in their homes – and the government says the regulator will take action where standards are not being met.
Shadow housing secretary Lisa Nandy said rules to protect private rented tenants also need to be both enforced and strengthened.
“It’s right to stand up to failing social landlords but there is no excuse for not showing the same regard for millions of private rented tenants who live in squalid, unsafe conditions and are evicted if they dare to complain,” she said.
“After years of broken promises, the government has taken no action to strengthen rules to protect those families. There is a political consensus on this, so there is no excuse for more delay.”
