Bolton at Home CEO on damp and mould after death of Awaab Ishak

Awaab Ishak was two years old when he died in December 2020 from a respiratory condition contracted while in a one-bedroom flat with his parents in Rochdale.

Around two years later, a coroner concluded the respiratory condition was due to damp and mould in the home owned by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH). 

It led to action across the UK with 'Awaab's Law', which is on the brink of Royal Assent, soon to introduce time limits for landlords to deal with health hazards in the home.

Awaab Ishak (Image: PA)

Noel Sharpe, who took over as chief executive of Bolton at Home a matter of weeks after the end of the inquest, said the issue is one of the biggest challenges for the housing association which owns more than 18,000 properties across the area.

In an exclusive interview with the Bolton News, she said: "I think off the back of the death of the little boy, Awaab Ishak, we've all taken a long look at ourselves.

"We've improved our communications and we've streamlined our processes to ensure we're responding to cases and we're tracking those cases.

"When you look at the different archetypes of homes and the different ages of homes unfortunately, structurally, some lend themselves more to damp and mould than others. 

"It's important when you treat something it doesn't drop off the radar. You need to maintain the observation of it to make sure it doesn't reoccur."

Ms Sharpe said the attention on damp and mould came at the same time as Bolton at Home was tackling a backlog in maintenance post-pandemic.

There was a backlog of around 6,000 repairs, a figure which is now in the hundreds, taking the resources of the housing association to the limit.

She said: "It was a challenge but it wasn't one from which we shied away. 

"We couldn't because it was the health and wellbeing of our customers."

The Bolton News has heard from a number of residents about damp and mould since the death of Awaab and Bolton at Home has seen a 'sharp rise' in requests itself.

READ MORE: Mum’s concern for children over mould and damp issues at Bolton at Home house

But Ms Sharpe suggested there is a positive to be taken from the tragedy.

She said: "It's worrying for our customers to see those headlines when you think about the loss of a life of a little boy. We've seen a sharp rise in the number of calls we've had around it. 

"Perversely, we've embraced it because at least we know about it and we can respond to it. It's raised it in the public consciousness as well as in our consciousness."

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.