The coalition government's public spending squeeze contributed to the neglect faced by social housing tenants, Communities Secretary Michael Gove has suggested.
Mr Gove admitted the mistakes of successive governments had led to tragedies such as the death of toddler Awaab Ishak in 2020, caused by mould in his family's flat in Rochdale, and the Grenfell Tower fire. His comments follow the publication of a damming report by the Housing Ombudsman arising from a special investigation into landlord Rochdale Boroughwide Housing commissioned after the inquest into Awaab's death.
Awaab lived with his parents and family, who came to the UK from Sudan, on Rochdale's Freehold estate and died in December 2020 after prolonged exposure to mould and damp in the flat. The report slammed the landlord's 'wholly unacceptable' attitude towards asylum seekers and highlighted a 'disturbing picture of residents being judged entirely by staff members' held prejudices and lazy assumptions'.
Mr Gove also claimed the Government had taken more action to support people in social housing than any previous administration for “decades”, after facing questions about the death of Sheila Seleoane. The medical secretary’s body was not found for two years, after she died alone in 2019 at her housing association flat in Peckham, south London.
Mr Gove told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Each of these individual cases are tragedies. What they all, however, point us towards is a problem that we’ve had in the past with social housing landlords treating their tenants with a degree of distance … and in some cases neglect, which is unacceptable.
"I wouldn’t draw a linear connection between some of the changes that were made when the coalition government were … understandably keen to make sure that public spending was tightened.
"We can look back and we can consider what some of the consequences of that were."
He added: "Particularly the thing that affected me most was the Grenfell fire. What the Grenfell inquiry in particular has subsequently brought to light was a chain of errors.
"I've said, and am very happy to reiterate, that there were some mistakes and errors that were made not just by, actually, the coalition government but by governments before which contributed to social tenants not getting the support that they deserved and not having their voices heard.”
The Liberal Democrat-Conservative coalition government of 2010 to 2015 faced criticism for deep cuts to public services instituted after the 2008 financial crisis. Asked if Conservative ministers need to take a share of the shame directed at social housing landlords, Mr Gove said: “We have a responsibility towards those in social housing to do better.
"I believe that in the course of the last 18 months there has been more action to support people in social housing under this Government than for decades."
Ms Seleoane is believed to have died in August 2019, but her body was not discovered until February 2022. Her neighbours had raised concerns with their housing association Peabody after reports of a foul smell coming from her flat, but it did not check up on her even after her rent payments stopped.
Instead, Peabody applied for Universal Credit to be paid directly to the housing provider on her behalf.
The housing association has said it would “learn from what happened to make sure we always put our residents first and that this never happens again”. It added: “We have to strike a balance between residents’ right to peaceful enjoyment of their homes and the desire to make sure that people are safe and well.
"But through better use of data, better teamwork across our organisation and more locally focused colleagues, we can be much better at spotting the signs that something isn’t right without intruding in people’s lives.”
A coroner ruled that two-year-old Awaab's death from a respiratory condition was caused by prolonged exposure to black mould in his home. His parents had complained to social landlord Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, but their concerns about disrepair were not addressed.
The 2017 Grenfell Tower fire resulted in the deaths of 72 people, with subsequent investigations highlighting neglect by the local council, and repeated failures to heed warnings about the flammable cladding fixed to the exterior of the high-rise building in west London.
Mr Gove has sought to take action in light of the tragedies, introducing Awaab's Law after a Manchester Evening News campaign to ensure social landlords deal with damp and mould issues swiftly. The Communities Secretary has also recently named and shamed private housing developers who have not signed up to a £2 billion fund aimed at removing unsafe cladding from homes they have built.
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