Social housing providers have backed Andy Burnham's plans to tackle rogue landlords, saying they must do better after the death of Awaab Ishak. The two-year-old died in December 2020 after Rochdale Boroughwide Housing - which owns and manages the Freehold estate flat where he lived - failed to act when his family repeatedly reported mould and damp, a coroner concluded last year.
The housing association admitted assumptions were made about the lifestyle of the family by attributing the wet bathroom floor in the flat to 'ritual bathing'. However, Awaab's father told the court that this was not in his family's culture.
The organisation will now be taking part in a 'learning session' with other social housing providers - including one on culturally sensitive services - according to Charlie Norman, chair of the Greater Manchester Housing Providers group. Representing 24 housing providers across the city-region last week, she said that the death of Awaab Ishak has 'profoundly upset' the social housing sector.
