Home > News > Death of two-year-old from mould in flat a ‘defining moment’, says coroner

Death of two-year-old from mould in flat a ‘defining moment’, says coroner

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, due to 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 England’s housing ombudsman, Richard Blakeway, said landlords must make plans to tackle the “real risk of worsening damp and mould issues” as energy bills soar.

Michael Gove, the levelling up housing and communities secretary, said the death was “an unacceptable tragedy” and that “it beggars belief” that the chief executive of the social housing provider was still in office. But he also said the government had been too slow to toughen social housing regulation.

“It’s five years since the Grenfell tragedy; we should have been legislating earlier,” he said. He also admitted to fears about living conditions for renters during 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 more damp in our homes.”

After a narrative conclusion was recorded at Rochdale coroner’s court, lawyers for Awaab’s parents read a statement in which they accused the social housing provider, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), of doing nothing over several years of treating the mould problem that killed their son.

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