Crackdown on moldy homes in England or more will die, doctors’ body warns

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has called on Michael Gove to speed up a promised crackdown on landlords who fail to repair tens of thousands of moldy homes, warning that unless laws are tightened, many more people will die from the implications.

As the Housing Ombudsman reported that landlords are increasingly failing to properly tackle damp, mold and leaks in social housing in England, Prof Sir Stephen Holgate, special adviser on air quality at the RCP, warned of increasing poor health as more people inhale mold toxins.

He said the consequences include people suffering from headaches, low energy, declining immunity and increased susceptibility in children to respiratory infections and deaths.

Professor Holgate said increased flooding, more householders keeping windows tightly closed to save energy and fungi becoming increasingly resistant to treatment – ​​both in homes and in the human body – due to the widespread use of fungicides in agriculture, made the reforms more urgent.

In the nine months since March, England’s housing ombudsman, Richard Blakeway, found 721 errors in the way landlords tackled damp, mold and leaks, more than in the previous 12 months and several times more than in 2020-2021. According to the social housing regulator, approximately 88,000 households in social housing suffer from serious damp and mold problems.

Last year, Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling, Housing and Communities, promised to implement the law of Awaab setting strict deadlines for landlords to repair moldy homes, after two-year-old Awaab Ishak died from prolonged exposure to black mold in his family’s social housing flat in Rochdale.

The government says only that it will fulfill the promise “as quickly as practicably possible”. Holgate said crucial reform was being held up by “obfuscation, debate and committees” and said there should be a “zero tolerance” approach to mold, as was the case in Germany.

On Tuesday, Gove announced an eight-week consultation on proposals to require social landlords to investigate hazards within 14 days, start fixing problems within a further seven days and make emergency repairs within 24 hours, or pay compensation pay to tenants. However, it remains unclear when a new law will come into effect.

The National Housing Federation, which represents social landlords, said it supports timescales for dealing with mold and damp “where appropriate”.

“Why haven’t we sorted that out yet?” said Prof. Holgate. “We know this is an ongoing problem. We know that housing in this country is in a terrible state… The science of (the risks of mold exposure) has not been accepted strongly enough by the regulators. This passive approach is failing society.”

He said people in rooms that smell strongly of mold are likely to inhale mycotoxins that can cause non-specific health problems such as headaches and acute lung diseases.

Announcing the consultation on the Awaab Bill, Gove said he would take “stronger and more robust action against social landlords who have refused for far too long to take their fundamental responsibilities seriously”.

The family of Awaab, who have warned tenants in moldy flats to simply “get out” after his death in December 2020, said they supported the proposed new law and hoped it would “stop every other family from the pain we have experienced”.

The Nottinghamshire coroner last month warned of “a risk that future deaths could occur” after tenant Jane Bennett, 52, died last year from respiratory failure possibly caused by exposure to untreated mold in her home.

Now a single mother living in a moldy council flat in Lewisham has told the Guardian she is considering placing her six-year-old son into care after he was diagnosed with breathing difficulties.

On Monday, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, appeared to take matters into his own hands by announcing a good landlord charter for his area, which would set standards and timescales for repairs, based on the principle that ‘the homes of people should not damage their homes’. physical or mental health”.

Prof. Kamila Hawthorne, president of the Royal College of GPs, also said it was crucial that landlords tackle mold “as quickly as possible to avoid the risk of serious health consequences”.

“Having a lot of damp and mold in a home can have serious consequences for a person’s health, especially if that person has a pre-existing condition such as asthma or is in a risk group for respiratory infections,” she said.