Blackpool council housing review in wake of Awaab Ishak death

A review has been undertaken by housing chiefs in Blackpool to ensure tenants are not living in damp housing conditions following the tragic death of Awaab Ishak.
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Awaab died in 2020, aged only two, after prolonged exposure to mould in the house his parents rented from Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), a housing association.

Following an inquest last month into the toddler's death, Secretary of State for Housing Michael Gove has written to all council leaders saying such a death "must never be allowed to happen again."

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Blackpool Council leader Coun Lynn Williams says a review of all council social housing was held in July this year in relation to tenant complaints about damp and mould.

Leader of Blackpool Council Lynn WilliamsLeader of Blackpool Council Lynn Williams
Leader of Blackpool Council Lynn Williams

This was prompted by a report from the Housing Ombudsman in October 2021 tightening up the actions expected of housing providers when dealing with tenant's complaints.

Coun Williams said: "It was made clear that social landlords must listen to tenants and take seriously their complaints.

"This prompted us to undertake a full internal review and adopt a new policy in July 2022 which helps ensure that issues are captured and addressed in a proactive manner.

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"Blackpool Housing Company and Blackpool Coastal Housing both use external specialists to diagnose and undertake repairs where damp is evident and have recently jointly procured the services of a damp specialist to aid this process.

"Our service standards set out response times to inspect and diagnose problems and, where necessary, undertake remedial works and support our tenants throughout this process."

She added the council would "of course, be fully co-operating with the Secretary of State’s request for information and urgent action in respect of these issues."

Currently more than 95 per cent of Blackpool Council tenants report high levels of satisfaction with the quality of their home and the repairs.

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Coun Williams said the next aim was to target improvements in the private rented sector, where it is estimated as many as one in three homes in Blackpool are not up to standard.

She added: "Hence, we are actively preparing for new legislation which is being introduced by the Government based on the Social Housing White Paper, which we welcome.

"We are committed to participating in a pilot scheme to help drive up standards across the private rented sector."