Housing bosses were handed huge pay rises while two parents grieved the loss of their two-year-old son who died due to black mould in his home.
Awaab Ishak had celebrated his second birthday just a week before he died from a respiratory condition caused by mould in December 2020.
He lived in a one-bedroom flat with his parents Aisha Aminin and Faisal Abdullah, who had previously complained to Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) about the mould.
Yesterday, a coroner concluded that he "died as a result of a severe respiratory condition caused due to prolonged exposure to mould in his home environment."
It has now emerged that Gareth Swarbrick, the chief executive of RBH, was enjoying his third pay rise while Awaab's parents mourned.
The boss saw his total pay package, including pension contributions, climb from £144,000 a year to £185,000 from the end of March 2019 to April 2021, reports Manchester Evening News.
He also failed to make an appearance in the public gallery during the whole of Awaab's inquest at Rochdale Coroners' Court, which heard six days of evidence.
Awaab and his family are far from the only families living on the estate to be affected by severe damp and mould.
Others have tried and failed to move home, with some even having letters from their GPs urging them to leave.
While tenants suffered, five members of RBH's senior management team received total pay packages of over £100,000, including salary and pension contribution.
Four of those executives remain at the housing association and benefitted from another pay hike the following financial year - coming into effect less than five months after Awaab's death.
Those executives included Nadhia Khan, director of customer and community, who is in charge of the team responsible for repairs and engaging with tenants.
Her total pay package increased from £90,000 in 2019-20, to £107,000 the following year and £108,000 in 2021-22.
She was the most senior employee at the company to give evidence at Awaab's inquest.
In her findings on Tuesday, Coroner Joanne Kearsle described Awaab as "an engaging, lively, endearing two-year-old".
She said Mr Abdullah reported mould developing in the Tweedale Street flat to RBH in 2017 and was told to paint over it.
In June 2020, Mr Abdullah instructed solicitors and initiated a claim over the recurring issue but policy meant any repairs would not be done until an agreement had been reached, the inquest heard.
A health visitor also contacted RBH to raise the issue in July 2020 and an inspection that month found mould in the kitchen, bathroom and a bedroom cupboard needed treatment.
Ms Kearsley said the mould was due to "normal daily living activities" and a lack of effective ventilation.
She said: "I find as a matter of fact that no action was taken and, from July 2020 until December 2020, Awaab continued to have chronic exposure to harmful mould."
The coroner gave a narrative conclusion for Awaab's death, with a medical cause of acute airway oedema with severe granulomatous tracheobronchitis, due to environmental mould exposure.
Giving evidence in court last Friday, Ms Khan did not apologise. And in a statement to the media, Mr Swarbrick didn't apologise either
He said he was "truly devastated" about Awaab's death and "the things we got wrong".
Mr Swarbrick continued: “We know that nothing we can say will bring Awaab back or be of any consolation to his family. We have and will continue to learn hard lessons from this.
“We didn’t recognise the level of risk to a little boy’s health from the mould in the family’s home. We allowed a legal disrepair process, widely used in the housing sector, to get in the way of promptly tackling the mould.
“We must make sure this can never happen again. Awaab’s death needs to be a wake-up call for everyone in housing, social care and health.
“We will take responsibility for sharing what we have learnt about the impact to health of damp, condensation and mould with the social housing sector and beyond.
“We support the Coroner and Housing Ombudsman’s call for the government’s Decent Homes Standard to be strengthened to include damp and mould, and the Coroner’s decision to write to the Ministers of Housing and Health on this."
Mr Swarbrick said processes have now been put into place "to ensure work can be carried out to tackle damp and mould, regardless of the status of a disrepair claim".
These measures include using every home visit to check for damp, condensation and mould, working with tenants on a campaign to highlight the causes of damp, putting in place mandatory training for all employees and trialling humidity smart meters.
Ms Kearsley said the toddler's death should be a "defining moment" for the housing sector and No.10 blasted the circumstances in which the youngster died as "unacceptable".
The youngster's family said after the hearing: "We cannot tell you how many health professionals we've cried in front of and Rochdale Boroughwide Housing staff we have pleaded to, expressing concern for the conditions ourselves and Awaab have been living in.
"We shouted out as loudly as we could, but despite making all of those efforts, every night we would be coming back to the same problem."
And addressing Awaab's family as she gave her conclusion, Ms Kearsley said: "I hope we have been able to provide you with some of the answers to the questions that you had about your son's death.
"But I do appreciate that nothing I say or do can bring Awaab back. More than anything, I hope you know that Awaab will - I am sure - make a difference for other people."
