The councillor leading calls for Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) to be stripped of its properties has spoken of his heartbreak that Awaab Ishak's situation only came to light when it was too late. The toddler died aged two in December 2020 after prolonged exposure to mould at his home on the Freehold estate, leading to fatal breathing difficulties, his inquest heard.
RBH is now under fire following the conclusion of Awaab's inquest last week. On Saturday, the housing association announced chief executive Gareth Swarbrick had been 'removed' from his post after he faced growing calls to stand down.
The organisation previously managed Rochdale's council housing as an 'arms-length' body until 2012, when it split from Rochdale Council and took on its remaining housing stock.
Speaking to the M.E.N. on Thursday (November 17), Coun Daniel Meredith admitted the relationship between Rochdale Council and the borough's largest housing provider had 'broken down'. At the time, the council's cabinet member for housing and highways said it was a long-term ambition of his for Rochdale's social housing to come back into the authority's control.
On Friday, the council sent a letter to housing secretary Michael Gove, officially confirming its intention to take back its housing stock from RBH. It called for the required funding to do this, while it also asked for the Housing Ombudsman or another independent body to take control of RBH in the meantime, while the latest investigation into standards at the social landlord takes place.
The letter was signed by Coun Meredith and Coun Neil Emmott, Rochdale Council's Labour leader, as well as the local authority's Conservative group leader, Coun John Taylor. "The whole culture needs to change with RBH," Coun Meredith told the M.E.N. on Thursday.
He added: "I want to make sure people in the borough are being respected and looked after."
Coun Meredith is no stranger to criticising the actions of RBH. He was previously so vocal in his opposition to the landlord, including its mooted demolition of Seven Sisters, that he was removed from RBH's representative body.
Giving his backing to our campaign for Awaab's Law, ensuring no social housing tenant could be trapped in the same deadly situation Awaab's family were, Coun Meredith spoke of the regret he held that Awaab's family had not reached out to elected members for support. "No one should be living in an uninhabitable home," Coun Meredith said.
"It's really upsetting, I must admit. Something needs to change." The Labour member says the most important way he can help tenants is by advocating for them with issues about their housing.
"Sometimes there are about 100 emails for one family to try and get things sorted out," he added. But in the Awaab case, Coun Meredith says no elected members were made aware of the problem before it was too late. "Every councillor in the UK will get complaints from residents," said Coun Meredith.
"We are there to advocate for our residents. In Awaab's case... there is no councillor or MP that was contacted about the family. We never knew that the family was living in such conditions.
"It does upset me that people don't know councillors can advocate on behalf of them. The inquest has revealed struggles that families can face across Rochdale and what we want to do is make sure they know they can contact us."
There are now 8,200 people on the waiting list for housing in Rochdale, and only a small fraction of that number will be able to get the homes they need. Coun Meredith wants to see investment in new homes for the borough as well as bringing up standards for the homes that currently exist.
In the letter sent to Mr Gove on Friday, Rochdale Council backed calls from coroner Joanne Kearsley to strengthen the Decent Homes Standard and update the health and safety rating system, to reflect the risks of damp and mould. Talks are also ongoing between the government and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) for powers to drive up housing standards in the region.
The letter to Mr Gove, which said RBH had 'failed in their most basic duty of care', continued: "Decent, safe housing should be a human right and we would welcome working with your department to ensure that confidence is restored to the system following this deeply troubling case." Steve Rumbelow, chief executive at Rochdale Council, is also the executive housing lead for GMCA.
"It's a horrendous case," he said. "No child should die because of issues to do with housing conditions in the UK - that is the bottom line. This must have been a terrible two years for his parents and his family and our thoughts are with them.
"I think what is really important now is that Awaab's death should not be in vain. It should be something that drives change in the system."
Much of GMCA's work has focused on private landlords. But Mr Rumbelow believes the Awaab case highlights why social landlords must also be kept under scrutiny to make sure they are delivering for their tenants.
"Yes of course, we should be able to trust those organisations that over the years have benefitted from a significant amount of public funding," he said. "They should be trusted to act in the best interests of the communities they are working with.
"Housing associations are pseudo-public sector. Private sector funding is accessible to them but only because of years of public funding they have been receiving.
"I think our prevailing thought is sadness - for the family and the situation they have found themselves in. But it's true that we should expect more from a public agency."
Asked if Rochdale Council should take a more proactive approach to inspecting the condition of social housing in the borough, given the findings of Awaab's inquest, Mr Rumbelow added: "The council is very aware of its responsibilities under the legislation in terms of housing conditions. We take that very seriously.
"Unfortunately in this terrible case we didn't become aware of it in a timescale that meant we could act in a way that could prevent this situation from occurring. But there is legislation there, we are aware of it.
"We need to act in accordance with it. But there are opportunities to strengthen it. We've been talking to government about how we can strengthen enforcement."
RBH was approached for comment.
Announcing the removal of Gareth Swarbrick on Saturday, the housing association said: "The Board has taken the decision to remove Gareth Swarbrick from his post as Chief Executive of RBH with immediate effect. We will now work to appoint an external Interim Chief Executive.
"Our original instincts were for Gareth to stay on to see the organisation through this difficult period and to make the necessary changes, but we all recognise that this is no longer tenable.
"The coroner noted that RBH had made changes as a result of the tragic death of Awaab. Under new leadership RBH will continue to embed these changes and to continue to drive further improvements to our homes and to our communications with tenants.
"We are committed to sharing what we have learnt about the impact to health of damp, condensation and mould with the social housing sector, and to supporting sector wide changes. We will work with other agencies local and national and with central government in implementing the wider changes recommended to them by the coroner.
"As an organisation we are deeply sorry for the death of Awaab and devastated that it happened in one of our homes. We must ensure this can never happen again. His death needs to be a wake-up call for everyone in housing, social care and health.
"We support the coroner and Housing Ombudsman’s call for the government’s Decent Homes Standard to be strengthened to include damp and mould. There will be no further statement at this time."
READ MORE FROM THE FREEHOLD ESTATE:
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Housing boss finally apologises for Awaab Ishak's death but refuses to quit
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'How does this happen?': Coroner rules Awaab Ishak, 2, died after mould wasn't treated at his home
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A 'happy, smiley baby' harmed by 'disgusting' mould: What we heard in the Awaab Ishak inquest
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A two-year-old is dead and other children are struggling to breathe
