The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
(Michael Gove): Members throughout the House and people across
the country will have been horrified to hear about the
circumstances surrounding the tragic death of Awaab Ishak. Awaab
died in December 2020, just days after his second birthday,
following prolonged exposure to mould in his parents’ one-bedroom
flat in Rochdale. Awaab’s parents had repeatedly raised their
concerns about the desperate state of...Request free trial
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
(): Members throughout the
House and people across the country will have been horrified to
hear about the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of
Awaab Ishak. Awaab died in December 2020, just days after his
second birthday, following prolonged exposure to mould in his
parents’ one-bedroom flat in Rochdale. Awaab’s parents had
repeatedly raised their concerns about the desperate state of
their home with their landlord—the local housing association,
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing. Awaab’s father first articulated
his concerns in 2017, and others, including health professionals,
also raised the alarm, but the landlord failed to take any kind
of meaningful action. Rochdale Boroughwide Housing’s repeated
failure to heed Awaab’s family’s pleas to remove the mould in
their damp-ridden property was a terrible dereliction of
duty.
Worse still, the apparent attempts by Rochdale Boroughwide
Housing to attribute the existence of mould to the actions of
Awaab’s parents was beyond insensitive and deeply unprofessional.
As the housing ombudsman has made clear, damp and mould in rented
housing is not a lifestyle issue, and we all have a duty to call
out any behaviour rooted in ignorance or prejudice. The family’s
lawyers have made it clear that in their view the inaction of the
landlord was rooted in prejudice.
The coroner who investigated Awaab’s death, Joanne Kearsley, has
performed a vital public service in laying out all the facts
behind this tragedy. I wish, on behalf of the House, to record my
gratitude to her. As she said, it is scarcely believable that a
child could die from mould in 21st century Britain, or that his
parents should have to fight tooth and nail, as they did in vain,
to save him. I am sure the whole House will join me in paying
tribute to Awaab’s family for their tireless fight for justice
over the past two years. They deserved better and their son
deserved better.
As so many have rightly concluded, Awaab’s case has thrown into
sharp relief the need for renewed action to ensure that every
landlord in the country makes certain that their tenants are
housed in decent homes and are treated with dignity and fairness.
That is why the Government are bringing forward further reforms.
Last week, the House debated the Second Reading of the Social
Housing (Regulation) Bill. The measures in that Bill were
inspired by the experience of tenants that led to the terrible
tragedy of the Grenfell fire. The way in which tenants’ voices
were ignored and their interests neglected in the Grenfell
tragedy is a constant spur to action for me in this role.
Before I say more on the substance of the wider reforms, let me
first update the House on the immediate steps that my Department
has been taking with regard to Awaab’s case. First, as the
excellent public-service journalism of the Manchester Evening
News shows, we are aware that Awaab’s family was not alone in
raising serious issues with the condition of homes managed by the
local housing association. I have already been in touch with the
chair and the chief executive of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing to
demand answers and that they explain to me why a tragedy such as
Awaab’s case was ever allowed to happen, and to hear what steps
they are now undertaking, immediately, to improve the living
conditions of the tenants for whom they are responsible.
I have been in touch with the hon. Member for Rochdale () and my hon. Friend the Member
for Heywood and Middleton (), both of whom are powerful
champions for the people of Rochdale. I have discussed with them
the finding of suitable accommodation for tenants in Rochdale who
are still enduring unacceptable conditions. I also hope to meet
Awaab’s family, and those who live in the Freehold estate, so
that they know that the Government are there to support them.
It is right that the regulator of social housing is considering
whether the landlord in this case has systematically failed to
meet the standards of service it is required to provide for its
tenants. The regulator has my full support for taking whatever
action it deems necessary. The coroner has written to me, and I
assure the House that I will act immediately on her
recommendations.
Let me turn to the broader urgent issues raised by this tragedy.
Let me be perfectly clear, as some landlords apparently still
need to hear this from this House: every single person in this
country, irrespective of where they are from, what they do or how
much they earn, deserves to live in a home that is decent, safe
and secure. That is the relentless focus of my Department and, I
know, of everyone across this House.
Since the publication of our social housing White Paper, we have
sought to raise the bar on the quality of social housing, while
empowering tenants so that their voices are truly heard. We
started by strengthening the housing ombudsman service so that
all residents have somewhere to turn when they do not get the
answers they need from their landlords. In addition, we have
changed the law so that residents can now complain directly to
the ombudsman, instead of having to wait eight weeks while their
case is handled by a local MP or another “designated person”.
One of the principal roles of the housing ombudsman service is to
ensure that robust complaint processes are put in place so that
problems are resolved as soon as they are flagged. It can order
landlords to pay compensation to residents and refer cases to the
regulator of social housing, which will in future be able to
issue unlimited fines to landlords that it finds to be at fault.
Of course, all decisions made by the ombudsman are published so
that the whole world can see which landlords are consistently
letting tenants down.
It is clear from Awaab’s case, which sadly did not go before the
ombudsman, that more needs to be done to ensure that this vital
service is better promoted, and that it reaches those who really
need it. We have already run the nationwide “Make Things Right”
campaign to ensure that more social housing residents know how
they can make complaints, but we are now planning—I think it is
necessary—another targeted multi-year campaign so that everyone
living in the social housing sector knows their rights, knows how
to sound the alarm when their landlord is failing to make the
grade, and knows how to seek redress without delay.
Where some providers have performed poorly in the past, they have
now been given ample opportunity to change their ways and to
start treating residents with the respect that they deserve. The
time for empty promises of improvement is over, and my Department
will now name and shame those who have been found by the
regulator to have breached consumer standards, or who have been
found by the ombudsman to have committed severe
maladministration.
While there is no doubt that this property fell below the
standard that we expect all social landlords to meet, Awaab’s
death makes it painfully clear why we must do everything we can
to better protect tenants. Our Social Housing (Regulation) Bill
will bring in a rigorous new regime that holds landlords such as
these to account for the decency of their homes. As I mentioned,
the system has been too reliant on people fighting their own
corner and we are determined to change that. The reforms that we
are making will help to relieve the burden on tenants with an
emboldened and more powerful regulator. The regulator will
proactively inspect landlords and, of course, issue the unlimited
fines that I have mentioned, and it will be able to intervene in
cases where tenants’ lives are being put at risk. In the very
worst cases, it will have the power to instruct that properties
be brought under new management.
Landlords will also be judged against tenant satisfaction
measures, which will allow tenants—indeed, all of us—to see
transparently which landlords are failing to deliver what
residents expect and deserve. It is the universal right of
everyone to feel safe where they and their loved ones sleep at
night, which is why our levelling up and private rented sector
White Papers set out how we will legislate to introduce a new,
stronger, legally binding decent homes standard in the private
rented sector as well for the first time. We recently consulted
on that decent homes standard and we are reviewing the responses
so that we can move forward quickly. It is a key plank of our
mission to ensure that the number of non-decent homes across all
tenures is reduced by 2030, with the biggest improvements
occurring in the lowest-performing areas.
The legislation that we are bringing forward is important. We
hope that, as a result, no family ever have to suffer in the way
that Awaab’s family have suffered. We hope that we can end the
scandal of residents having to live in shoddy, substandard homes,
such as some of those on the Freehold estate. We want to restore
the right of everyone in this country, whatever their race or
cultural background, to live somewhere warm, decent, safe and
secure—a place that they can be proud to call home. I commend
this statement to the House.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
2.52pm
(Wigan) (Lab)
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and for advance
sight of it. I join him in sending our condolences to the family
of Awaab Ishak. It is the worst thing that any family could
possibly imagine. It is very difficult to come to terms with the
fact that, in 21st-century Britain, in one of the wealthiest
countries in the world, a family could find their child dying at
just two years old through completely and utterly avoidable
circumstances that could, would and should have been prevented. I
acknowledge that their only ask as a family is that, once and for
all, the conditions for those in social housing are improved.
Today has to mark the start of a real step change in our level of
urgency to improve the condition of our social housing stock and
the rights of people in it. This is not just about social housing
stock, however: as the housing ombudsman made absolutely clear,
there are people in every form of tenure who are forced in
21st-century Britain to endure these appalling, unconscionable
conditions.
The coroner said that the death of Awaab, who suffered prolonged
exposure to mould,
“will and should be a defining moment for the housing
sector”,
but it should also be a defining moment for us and a wake-up call
to every single Member of the House who has, in whatever limited
form and to whatever extent, the power and platform to make sure
that this never, ever happens again. It should not take the death
of a two-year-old boy in completely avoidable circumstances to
get us together and act.
The truth is that although this is the most shocking outcome that
anyone could imagine, this is not an unusual set of circumstances
to come across the desk of any hon. Member or housing lawyer in
the country. Our inboxes and constituency surgeries, in every
part of the country, are overflowing with people in this
position—people who have sounded the alarm over and over again,
but who have simply been rendered invisible by decision makers
who do not respond.
I know that the Secretary of State and I are wholly united on
this issue and that he is sincere about getting a grip on it and
doing something about it. Only a week ago, we stood across from
each other at the Dispatch Box and talked about what we could do
to strengthen the measures in the Social Housing (Regulation)
Bill that is currently before Parliament to ensure that this
House delivers the strongest possible legislation. If there is
unity, however, there is no excuse for delay. It is time for
urgency.
In that spirit, what further steps will the Secretary of State’s
Department take? There is a systemic issue of housing unfit for
human habitation in the social and private rented sectors. Too
many families are living in overcrowded, damp, mouldy and squalid
conditions, and they are disproportionately likely to be black,
Asian and ethnic minority families in poverty. This has not just
a heavy social cost; NHS England already spends £1.3 billion a
year on treating preventable illnesses caused by cold and damp
homes.
The consultation on the decent homes standard closed weeks ago,
so can the Secretary of State give a timescale for that being
brought into law without delay for the private and social rented
sectors? We are 100% committed to decent homes standard 2, so we
will work with the Government day and night to ensure that it is
tough and fit for the 21st century, and that it is delivered
quickly.
New regulation matters but, as the Secretary of State knows,
there is a crisis for local authorities up and down the country.
It would be wrong not to acknowledge that, for well-intentioned
local authorities—the ones that are good landlords and are
responsive to their tenants’ needs—there is still a huge, gaping
hole in their finances. Will he ensure that he sits down and
works through those problems with local authorities? Everybody
understands that there is a major problem with the public
finances, but we have to find creative ways to help local
authorities now, including through longer-term funding
settlements. Will he particularly ensure that any social rent cap
is funded? Otherwise all we do is load more cuts on to local
authorities that cannot afford them and ensure that that money is
stripped out of our local housing stock at a time when, as he
knows, the situation is already unconscionable.
Damp is more likely in homes that are excessively cold and
expensive to heat. With energy bills going through the roof, a
cold winter will lead to a spike in mould problems, as the
Secretary of State will know. What is he doing to bring about the
retrofitting and insulation of older social housing stock to make
homes cheaper to heat? We have a housing crisis in this country,
but we also have a growth crisis. There are a lot of people
around the country who could use good jobs bringing those homes
up to standard and literally saving lives this winter.
I welcome the fact that the Secretary of State has called in the
chief executive of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing to explain
himself, but will the Secretary of State commit to a wider
investigation of the case and what can be learned, including the
housing association’s structure and governance and whether the
lack of democratic representation on its board played a part in
its lack of responsiveness?
I am grateful that the Secretary of State repeatedly acknowledged
during his statement that Awaab’s family have said that, in their
view, it is beyond doubt that racism played a role in their
treatment and the handling of their concerns. Beyond an
acknowledgement, I would like to see some action to deal with
that. Nobody should be subjected to personal and intrusive
questions about their private lives, lifestyle and bathing habits
in their own home. I was glad that the coroner recognised that
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing now knows that that was completely
unacceptable, but how on earth was it allowed to conclude that
lifestyle and bathing habits contributed to the majority of the
mould?
Further to that, an important part of the system is providing
legitimate migrants and refugees with safe and secure housing.
Will the Secretary of State commit to a wider review of how
housing is provided and maintained for refugees in this country?
I am convinced that Awaab’s family are right that the imbalance
of power posed an acute problem for those who are unfamiliar with
the system. I want to pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member
for Rochdale (), who is in his place, and to
the Manchester Evening News. They are a powerful voice for people
who do not understand the system. However, there is a problem
here, and it needs to be addressed. Will the Secretary of State
look at the over-representation of BAME people in poor-quality
housing?
Finally—I will come to a close, Madam Deputy Speaker, because I
know that there is huge interest in this across the House—we
stood in this place five years ago, after the shocking events of
Grenfell, and said, “Never again.” Never again has to mean
something. It has to mean a legacy for the people who have lost
loved ones as a consequence of the shocking imbalance of power in
the housing system. Will the Secretary of State commit to working
with us in the Opposition to deliver a housing system fit for the
21st century?
I thank the hon. Lady for the points she made and the questions
she asked, and for the very open and constructive approach she is
taking to making sure that we can all work together to learn the
appropriate lessons from this tragedy.
The hon. Lady is right, of course, that the circumstances were
utterly avoidable. She was also right to say that we require a
step change in levels of urgency in dealing with these problems.
She is right, too, that the problems identified by the coroner
and held up to the light exist in every form in tenure across
England. Damp and mould are not an unusual set of circumstances,
but a problem that afflicts constituents all of us know of and
all of us represent, and they should not be a problem with which
people have to live. The impact on individuals’ health and their
quality of life can be profound, and action needs to be taken
across the country, by all of us, to ensure that this scandal
ends.
The hon. Lady is right to say that poor housing quality, while it
exists across England, is particularly concentrated in certain
communities, and it disproportionately affects families from
black and minority ethnic backgrounds. This is part of a broader
pattern of unequal outcomes that we do need to address. It
requires sensitivity in handling, but she is also right that it
requires urgency and focus on the part of all of us in
investigating the factors that lie behind it.
The hon. Lady asked particularly about the decent homes standard
and when we will bring forward new regulations in response to the
consultation. We hope to do so as early as possible. It may not
be until the beginning of the new year, but we will do so, I
hope, in a way that ensures we can legislate effectively either
in this Session or in the next.
The hon. Lady makes a fair point about local authority funding.
Every part of the public sector and public realm faces funding
challenges at the moment. I have been talking to my right hon.
Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer about this, and he is very
sensitive to these concerns. In the autumn statement tomorrow, he
will be saying more about what can be done, including with
reference to the social rent cap. As we all know, it is important
to balance the additional sums that individuals may be required
to pay at a time of inflation in order to ensure that housing
associations are appropriately funded for the work that they need
to do. There is a difficult balance to strike, but I have talked
to Kate Henderson and others in the housing association sector,
and I believe that the way forward that we have found is one that
will be considered to be fair, in admittedly tough
circumstances.
The hon. Lady asked about a wider investigation into the
governance of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing. I had the opportunity
to talk briefly to the chief executive earlier this afternoon. In
the course of that conversation, it became even more clear to me
that there are systemic problems in the governance and leadership
of that organisation. I look forward to working with the hon.
Lady and the two Members of Parliament covering the metropolitan
borough to address that.
The hon. Lady also made a point about the campaigning work of not
just local MPs, but of the Manchester Evening News. As I
referenced briefly in my statement, I am grateful to the
Manchester Evening News, which is an exemplar when it comes to a
local newspaper that speaks for its communities and campaigns
effectively.
The hon. Lady’s final point about safe and secure housing for
all, including refugees, is one that I absolutely take on board.
We do need to ensure that people fleeing persecution and being
welcomed into the country know that this country is a safe home
for them and that they have a safe home within this country. I
would only say that it is our responsibility and our duty to
ensure that every citizen of the United Kingdom believes that
everyone in this House is on their side in ensuring that they
have somewhere safe, decent and secure to live.
(Wokingham) (Con)
Roughly how many social housing homes are below standard, and
what proportion of the stock is that?
A significant proportion of social housing homes are below
standard—we think significantly more than 10%—but the proportion
of homes that are below standard in the private rented sector is
even higher.
(Rochdale) (Lab)
There is no doubt that the death of Awaab was tragic, but it was
also preventable and unforgivable. I endorse the exchange between
the Secretary of State and my hon. Friend the Member for Wigan
(), in which some very important
points were raised. I have limited time today, Madam Deputy
Speaker, but perhaps I can make a few points.
At the national level, the Secretary of State rightly says we
need the new definition of decent homes. Does that include
classifying mould as a category 1 hazard, for example, because
that would be an important step in providing protection? Will he
also guarantee this important matter? There is a debate about the
funding of local authorities, but there needs to be specific
recognition that if we are to prevent this kind of tragedy, we
must have enforcement and we must have structures that have the
resources to enforce, such as local authority housing
ombudsmen.
At the local level, the Secretary of State made reference to
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing. I have to say that I have very
little faith in the senior management of that body. There were so
many ways in which this tragedy could have been prevented, so it
is unforgivable that it has happened. Exemplary fines will not
necessarily do the trick, however, because this simply penalises
those who pay rents and penalises the taxpayer. There needs to be
some personal responsibility in this, and the capacity for those
at a senior level to face the consequences either legally, or in
any case of losing their job. I would welcome an investigation
into Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, and I hope this can now be
done, because there are serious issues. I really do think that
the chief executive, and perhaps some of those on other executive
bodies, need to question their own role and whether they should
be there any longer.
I am very grateful to the hon. Member for the points he makes.
Again, I express my sympathy to his constituents who have had to
deal with some of the defects that Rochdale Boroughwide Housing
has exhibited for some years now, and I know that he has
consistently questioned the service they have received.
On the first point about damp and mould, it is already the case
under the legislation introduced by the hon. Member for
Westminster North (Ms Buck)—the Homes (Fitness for Human
Habitation) Act 2018—that damp and mould is a No. 1 concern when
it comes to whether a house is fit for human habitation. However,
the hon. Member is quite right to say that, when it comes to
identifying a category 1 hazard, reviewing that in the context of
the decent homes standard is something we do have to do. I think
that, under any circumstance or under any standard, the
conditions in which Awaab’s family were living were simply not
decent and would have failed the decent homes standard, but he is
quite right that we need to keep these under constant review.
The hon. Member is also right to stress that, when it comes to
appropriate support for people in all types of tenure, we need to
make sure that local authorities are appropriately resourced to
ensure that they can be the champions of those whom they are
elected to represent.
(Heywood and Middleton)
(Con)
When I think about this case I vacillate between profound sadness
and white-hot anger. This is not an isolated incident. Just this
week, I was sent photographs of a house in Middleton with its
walls caked in black mould and rising damp. That is an RBH
property, and my constituent sent me a copy of her doctor’s note
saying that she and her children are now severely ill because of
these conditions. RBH are modern-day slumlords. Can I encourage
my right hon. Friend, and I thank him for all his engagement thus
far, to take up the suggestion of the hon. Member for Wigan
() to conduct a full
root-and-branch investigation into the workings of RBH? Does he
agree with me that, when the director is claiming £157,000 in
earnings, he must bear full responsibility for what has
happened?
Again, I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for his work. I know
that he has been extraordinarily diligent in following up the
cases of poor housing that have been brought to his attention. He
is absolutely right that the leadership of RBH has presided over
a terrible situation in his constituency. Action does need to be
taken. He is absolutely right that we need to make sure that all
of the tools at our disposal are used to investigate what went on
and to hold those responsible to account. He is also right to say
that individuals who earn well in excess of what our Prime
Minister earns and who have responsibility for 12,500 homes
should take the consequences of those actions.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
I call the Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Committee.
(Sheffield South East)
(Lab)
May I associate myself with the aims that the Secretary of State
has set out in his statement? I think they will be supported
across the House.
I draw the Secretary of State’s attention to the Select
Committee’s report, “The Regulation of Social Housing”, published
in July—I gently remind him that the Department has not yet
replied to it. In the report, we identified some social housing
that was unfit for human habitation, and causing the sorts of
health problems that tragically have been seen in this case. We
identified problems with repair reporting, complaints handling,
and a lack of proactive inspection of properties by housing
providers and the social housing regulator. We put that in
context and said
“some blame must attach to successive Governments for not
investing enough in new homes, which has increased the sector’s
reliance on outdated stock, and for not providing funding
specifically for regeneration.”
Some of those are not individual repairs; there are failures of
whole blocks and whole estates. I say to the Secretary of State:
let us share the common objectives, and let us work together to
get the money to ensure that those objectives can be
realised.
Of course, when the hon. Gentleman and his Committee published
their report, I think I had just beforehand left office, and only
relatively recently have I returned to office. But it is a
powerful report, and the points he makes are fair and necessary.
The concerns he raised about the state of repair and complaints
handling have been articulated for many years, and the report
brings very much to the front of mind the need to tackle those
concerns urgently. His broader point about the need for
investment in our housing stock, and our social housing stock
overall, is very much a mission of my Department, not least in
ensuring that Homes England, and others, can work with registered
social landlords to ensure the regeneration of estates—including
in Sheffield—that have been neglected for too long.
(Guildford) (Con)
I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement and strong
response, and I join colleagues across the House in our
heartbreak for Awaab and his family. Sadly, the conditions that
have been brought to light are replicated across the country.
Indeed, a good deal of my casework, from when I was elected in
December 2019 right through to today, is about poor housing
conditions. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that he will take
action to improve housing quality for private as well as social
tenants?
Absolutely, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend and constituency
neighbour for raising that issue. Although Guildford is an
absolutely beautiful city, there are some parts that she
represents where the state of housing, in both the social and
private rented sectors, is simply not good enough. We have
discussed that in private in the past, and she is right. We will
be bringing forward measures to ensure that her constituents get
the support they deserve.
(Birmingham, Selly Oak)
(Lab)
I do not doubt the Secretary of State’s sincerity, but I suspect
from my own caseload that this problem is far more widespread
than has hitherto been acknowledged. What guarantee can he give
today that there will be concerted action, and that we will not
see a flurry of activity from landlords and housing associations,
rushing round to properties, slapping on a bit of anti-mould
paint, and leaving parents in the same predicament as Awaab’s
parents, of worrying for their children’s future because nothing
is really being done to address the problem?
The hon. Gentleman articulates a fair concern, and it is striking
that Awaab’s parents were told that paint in itself would be an
answer to the mould problem. In some circumstances anti-mould
paint can help to alleviate the problem, but it does not tackle
it at root. On the broader issue of whether we will see a flurry
of performative activity rather than fundamental change, the hon.
Gentleman is absolutely right. That is why the new powers for the
regulator are so important, and why it is my commitment to ensure
that we review those powers, review the decent homes standard
and, if for any reason there is backsliding, take further
action.
(Harrow East) (Con)
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on making a statement so
quickly after the tragic events that took place. Awaab’s death
was preventable and a tragedy, but I am afraid that the advice
given to his parents is the normal advice given up and down the
country when people inspect damp and mould: “It’s your lifestyle,
not the condition of the building.” Will my right hon. Friend
look closely at appropriate amendments to the Social Housing
(Regulation) Bill, and consider what we can do to strengthen it
and ensure that this tragedy leads to a sea change, so that we do
not see it repeated time and again up and down the country?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend—few people in this House have
done more to shine a light on poor housing conditions and
introduce legislation to improve the conditions of tenants. He is
absolutely right: the housing ombudsman made clear in its October
2021 report that damp and mould could never be considered a
lifestyle issue. That is both an abdication of responsibility on
the part of landlords and, as we have heard, sometimes a mask for
prejudice, which we need to call out. He is also right that we
need to look at our legislation to ensure that appropriate
lessons are learned. I look forward to working with him and other
colleagues to ensure that the legislation is fit for purpose in
every respect.
(Barnsley East) (Lab)
We have a significant lack of social housing, and as we have
heard so tragically today, where houses are available the
conditions are often inadequate. One elderly couple in my
constituency have been dealing with mould for over two years.
What support will be given to local councils that want to do the
right thing to address the availability and quality of social
housing?
The hon. Lady is right to raise that point, and we will be
working with local authorities, registered social landlords and
the wider housing sector to ensure that we continue to provide
resource for the upgrading of existing stock and the provision of
new stock.
I should say—I did not respond fully to the hon. Member for Wigan
() earlier—that one other
important pressure on registered social landlords is ensuring
that we deal with effective energy efficiency and insulation
measures. We must make those resources available, even at a time
of straitened circumstances.
(Eastleigh) (Con)
I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’
Financial Interests, and I pass on my condolences to the family
concerned.
The standard of housing in the social housing sector, run by both
housing associations and local authorities, has been shown to
suffer from ongoing issues across the UK, including inefficient
repairs and maintenance contracts and services. What assessment
has the Secretary of State made of whether the regulatory
enforcement framework needs improving urgently, including the
inspections regime? Does the ombudsman need to be given more
resources, so that tenants can expect a full and quick resolution
to their complaints?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who has campaigned on these
questions for some time. He is right: we must ensure that the
ombudsman and regulator are appropriately resourced, and we will
keep both under review. It may be that we need to provide
additional resource to the ombudsman, given that we actively want
to promote more tenants using that service in order to secure
redress.
(Worsley and Eccles South)
(Lab)
I join those paying tribute to the Manchester Evening News for
its excellent reporting and the campaign it is starting on this
matter. The Secretary of State has called this case
“unacceptable”, but what is so tragic, as we are hearing across
the House, is that the experience of Awaab’s family in having
their concerns ignored is shared by so many across the country,
including in my constituency. My office receives upwards of 40
cases a year from constituents who are worried sick about
persistent mould and damp in their social housing. Many children
and babies are living in those damp and mouldy homes, often for
years, which affects their health badly. Is the Secretary of
State satisfied that there is sufficient investment in
enforcement, and sufficient legal help available, to hold housing
providers to account?
The consistent theme from Members across the House is the need to
ensure that appropriate resources are there, and one commitment I
give to the House is that I will seek to ensure that appropriate
resource is in place for the ombudsman, registered social
landlords and local authorities. The hon. Lady’s question gives
me the opportunity to add that the housing ombudsman’s report,
which I mentioned earlier, also contains examples of very good
practice among the many excellent RSLs, because as well as
focusing on failure, it is also important to look at where good
practice exists and ensure that the resource is there to ensure
that that becomes more widespread.
(Cheadle) (Con)
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his statement. It is
shocking that a two-year-old child should lose his life from lung
and heart failure due to mould and damp conditions in his flat.
Unfortunately, we know that the default position from landlords
has often been that that is about lifestyle. Will the Secretary
of State send a clear message that that should no longer be the
default position when such issues arise? It is clear that this is
not just rogue landlords; this goes across the sector. Will he
ensure that any measures he brings forward will address the issue
across all sectors?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Again, this is a subject that
we have discussed outside the House in the past. The existence of
damp and mould is a persistent and avoidable issue. It is in no
way due to the lifestyle of tenants. As the housing ombudsman’s
report makes crystal clear, there should not be any sense of
fatalism on the part of registered social landlords or others in
dealing with the issue. It is avoidable, it can be dealt with,
and it is urgent that we do so.
(Vauxhall)
(Lab/Co-op)
According to the English housing survey, 839,000 homes across the
country have damp problems, including 409,000 private rented
properties and 198,000 social housing properties. However, across
the House, we all know that the figures are far higher. For every
constituent who contacts me in Vauxhall or any other Member of
the House, there are so many other constituents suffering in
silence, not knowing who to turn to, living in poor conditions
that are affecting their health. I welcome the Secretary of State
saying that resources will be available, but the sad truth is
that cuts over the last 12 years to our local councils have borne
human consequences. This boy’s sad death should not have
happened. Will the Secretary of State acknowledge that the
Government have an urgent duty to do better so that more
tragedies such as this do not happen?
I am grateful to the hon. Lady, who on the Levelling Up, Housing
and Communities Committee and elsewhere has been a clear and
consistent voice calling for the better treatment of tenants in a
variety of different tenures. The cases that she has brought to
my attention and others’ make a compelling case for change. She
is right that we in government must ensure that we provide an
appropriate level of resource. I do believe that ensuring that
more people are aware of how to contact the ombudsman and
ensuring that the regulator has additional teeth will contribute
to change. But, of course, all of us need to ensure that we keep
the situation under review. Her question gives me the opportunity
again to praise the work of Dan Hewitt of ITN and, of course,
Kwajo Tweneboa, the housing campaigner, who have worked with her
to highlight the problems that we both want to see resolved.
(Cities of London and
Westminster) (Con)
I thank my right hon. Friend for his compassionate and thorough
statement. Does he agree that if we are to prevent another death
such as Awaab’s and ensure that people have the right to decent,
damp-free homes, the responsibility must stop with the chief
executives of housing providers? Does he also agree that the only
way in which they will remain accountable and responsible for the
housing they provide is by ensuring that they can be fined or
even face legal cases and that, in acute cases such as this,
corporate manslaughter charges may be considered?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend who, in her previous role as
leader of an outstanding local authority, did an enormous amount
to champion the rights of tenants. I cannot comment further than
I have on this case, but, yes, she is right that all of us have
to take responsibility for improving the situation.
(Brighton, Kemptown)
(Lab/Co-op)
This is an awfully tragic case, but I think we all agree that it
is not an isolated one. Numerous constituents of all
tenures—council, housing association and private rented—have been
told that they have mould in their property because of lifestyle
reasons. Will the Secretary of State commit to a timetable to
bring forward the work in the Green Paper on the private rented
sector and tell us the timescale for it? In that work, will there
be a basic standard for ventilation? One of the big problems is
that there is no national standard for what we expect of
ventilation in properties, and that is causing much of the
condensation problem.
The hon. Gentleman is right to raise the question of ventilation,
which was a particular factor that the coroner raised in this
tragic case. More broadly, his point about the need to expedite
legislation to improve conditions in the private rented sector is
right, and we will make an announcement shortly about the
timetable for legislation.
(Gloucester) (Con)
I welcome the Secretary of State’s comments, his statement and
the compassion with which he is dealing with this very sad case.
All the steps being taken on social housing providers and, where
appropriate, councils can only be a good thing as a reminder to
us all. What does my right hon. Friend think could be done on
private rented accommodation? In my constituency quite a large
number of people rent from private providers, and they may not be
at all aware of what their rights are and what the standards
should be.
My hon. Friend makes a very important point. It is important to
stress that the overwhelming majority of landlords in the private
rented sector provide a high-quality service, care for their
tenants and want their properties to be kept up to the highest
standards. However, a small minority, which often includes
individuals or organisations based overseas who own property
here, neglect the appropriate standards to which the property
should be kept. The legislation that we will bring forward in due
course will help to tackle those abuses.
(North Shropshire) (LD)
I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement and send my deepest
condolences to Awaab’s loved ones. Will the Secretary of State
acknowledge that an overall chronic shortage of social housing is
contributing to the problem of tenants living in dangerous or
unsuitable conditions because there are no other options
available? A less serious case, but an example from my
constituency, is that of a family of six living in a two-bedroom
property, whose son is falling behind at school because he cannot
sleep at night. Will the Secretary of State commit to allowing
councils and housing associations to keep 100% of the proceeds of
homes sold under the right to buy scheme so that, at the very
least, they can hope to maintain their current level of social
housing stock?
The hon. Lady makes a fair point about ensuring that we do
everything possible to support local authorities to increase
social housing stock. Of course, we do need to keep that under
review and, again, we will be saying more about that in due
course.
(Leeds Central) (Lab)
The hon. Member for Harrow East (), who is no longer in his place, spoke for all of us
when he described how our constituents are often told that they
are somehow to blame for damp, condensation and mould. I very
much welcome the clear statement the Secretary of State just made
that that will no longer be acceptable from any landlord. Given
that he has said that, we can tell our tenants that from today.
Will he consider putting a time limit on the period in which the
housing provider must fix a problem from when it is first raised?
I do believe that that would concentrate the mind. In many
cases—we will all be familiar with this—the problem goes back and
forth and still does not get sorted out.
I very much take on board the right hon. Gentleman’s point. One
thing that I will look at and discuss with the regulator and the
ombudsman is how we can ensure that there is a best practice
timescale for responses to complaints so that we do not have the
back and forth that he described.
(Hackney North and Stoke
Newington) (Lab)
The Secretary of State will be aware that the family first raised
the issue a year before their little boy died. That, in my view,
points to the extreme culpability of the Rochdale Boroughwide
housing association. It is my view not that its head should be
fined but that, if he had any conscience, he would resign. Tens
of thousands of people up and down the country are in properties
that are riddled with damp and mould. I have the issue myself in
Hackney, and one estate, Evelyn Court, is campaigning to try to
get its landlord to do something about it. It is difficult to
imagine anything sadder than watching your child literally cough
to death because people who were supposed to act did not. The
family are of the opinion that they were treated in this way
because they were migrants and because they were black. We all
know all sorts of tenants have this issue, but does the Secretary
of State agree that some of us believe these tenants were treated
like this because they were black?
I am really grateful to the right hon. Lady for raising that
question and for the way in which she raised it. It does seem to
me, on the basis of the facts as we know them, that this family
were victims of prejudice, whether unwitting or otherwise. There
are other examples, and there have been other examples, of
individuals in both the private rented sector and the social
rented sector who have been treated with significantly less
respect than they deserve because of attitudes that are rooted in
prejudice. We all have a responsibility across this House to call
that out when it occurs and to ensure that people, whatever their
background, are treated with the dignity they deserve as human
beings.
(Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
Let this be the point where no one is ever told again, “Open your
windows and the problem will be solved.” May I caution the
Secretary of State against relying solely on the housing
ombudsman as the best mechanism for our constituents to seek
redress? RSLs such as Clarion and London and Quadrant have, when
doing repairs, left residents in hotels miles away from where
they live. Residents are getting heavily into debt and
languishing because the RSLs are not doing the repairs properly.
Residents do not have the weeks and months it takes to secure
redress. The companies will use their insurance policies to cover
the cost of doing the repairs on those properties. Will he give
tenants a right to access that money, so we can concentrate the
minds of those social landlords to treat those people with the
dignity they deserve?
The hon. Lady makes an important point. It is certainly the case
that the two RSLs she mentions have failed tenants in the past
and she is right to call that out. Her broader point on whether
we can give tenants the additional rights she mentions is an
interesting one. I commit to working with her to see what more
can be done.
(Islington North) (Ind)
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement on this awful
tragedy and for the way he made it. I hope this will lead to a
step change in attitudes and policy towards the housing needs of
people across the whole country. I totally agree with him when he
says that everyone should have a decent, safe, secure, dry, warm
place to live in—absolutely right. It is not happening in my
constituency, or in many others, where I come across people
living in overcrowded accommodation with damp and all the other
issues that go with it. In the now very large private rented
sector, tenants are often afraid to complain—they fear eviction
if they complain—they have no certainty of a long-term residence.
We need tough legislation on the private rented sector, we need
more council housing built and we need an attitude from public
health inspectors that goes down like a tonne of bricks on any
landlord, whoever they are, who fails in their duties to maintain
a safe, dry, warm and clean environment.
The right hon. Gentleman and I have disagreed on many things in
this House, but I have to say that I agree with every single word
he just said.
(Bristol South) (Lab)
Our thoughts are absolutely with the family. May I draw the
Secretary of State’s attention to social housing providers? In my
constituency, one has raised concerns about the 14% rise in
maintenance costs in the last year, a cost that has not been
recognised in the Government’s consultation on rent caps. I think
he might have alluded to some future compromise, but could he
give us some assurance that the Government will consider the rise
in maintenance costs at this time when they are looking at future
rents?
The hon. Lady makes an important point. We have a number of very
different things that are operating in tension and that we need
to review. First, we need to ensure, at a time of rising prices
everywhere, that tenants in social housing are not faced with
increases in rents that further add to the difficulties they
face. At the same time, however, registered social landlords and
housing associations need money to provide new stock, to pay for
repairs when materials are costing more, and to undertake some of
the work on insulation and energy efficiency alluded to earlier,
as well as, in some cases, the building safety work required in
the wake of Grenfell. I appreciate the pressures under which they
are operating and my commitment is to work with them
constructively to try to ensure we can support them.
(Ellesmere Port and Neston)
(Lab)
Like every other Member here, I get weekly concerns from
constituents about mould in properties. Sometimes we are able to
help them and we get there. It takes a long time and
unfortunately problems often come back. Sometimes people come to
see me who I helped when I was a councillor almost a decade ago
and the problems have re-emerged, so there is something far
deeper going on here—it is not just about trying to put these
things right. The issue is across the whole sector. Every housing
association in my constituency has these problems. There are
issues of capacity, funding and accountability. I do not think
these associations are accountable to the communities they
represent. Can the Secretary of State say something about what he
can do about that?
The hon. Member raises at least three very important questions.
First, in fairness to everyone, many RSLs have inherited housing
stock—particularly that built in the ’60s and ’70s—that was
simply not fit for purpose when it was constructed and is well
beyond its natural life span as anything approaching decent
accommodation. He is absolutely right that they have inherited
significant problems. Secondly, we need to make sure that housing
associations and RSLs are more accountable generally. One thing
that our reforms seek to do is to ensure that the tenant voice is
louder and more clearly heard. However, there can be an open
debate into the future about how we improve stock overall and
ensure better democratic accountability.
Mrs (Birmingham, Erdington)
(Lab)
The death of Awaab Ishak was a tragedy that shone a light on the
issues in the sector. A family in my constituency contacted me as
they had been living in temporary accommodation for more than
four years. The property was absolutely full of mould; when it
was inspected, it was so bad that there were mushrooms growing in
the bathroom. It was ridiculous. The Government’s consultation on
the decent homes standard has closed. Will the Secretary of State
commit to bringing in new legally enforceable standards to ensure
that everyone has a decent place to live? How will that be
monitored?
I know that the hon. Lady, with her background as an NHS
professional, will have come across the consequences of poor
housing throughout a lifetime dedicated to public service. She is
right: we need to make sure that there is effective monitoring of
improvements by RSLs. That is what the new regulator is supposed
to ensure and achieve. If, for any reason, we need to provide it
with more teeth or do more, I look forward to working with her in
that regard.
(Lewisham East) (Lab)
Last month, a 52-year-old gentleman contacted me, crying down the
phone. He said that, in his previous accommodation, he had
developed breathing problems due to the damp, rot and mould in
that home, that there was no heating in his present home and that
he was worried and scared. What will the Secretary of State’s
Department do to invest in social housing, enforce capacity and
provide legal aid to help to end this scandal once and for
all?
I am very sorry to hear about that individual case. I would be
grateful if the hon. Lady let me and my office know about that
and the landlord responsible, and we will seek to follow it up.
On her broader point, I hope that the regulator and the ombudsman
together can help to ensure that individuals like her constituent
have their concerns addressed. However, if more needs to be done,
my Department will do what we can to review that.
(Westminster North) (Lab)
When the Government backed my Homes (Fitness for Human
Habitation) Act 2018, I knew that the law would not be enough.
That will prove to be the case again. We have heard about
enforcement against social landlords and against private
landlords—who are twice as bad—as well as commissioned temporary
accommodation and exempt accommodation, which is often the worst.
We know that we need more enforcement capacity. Will the Minister
and the Government commission a study of local authorities’
enforcement capacity—particularly the use of environmental health
officers—to enable councils to identify the problems in
accommodation? Will he also commission a study of the use of the
legal powers already available to local authorities, which varies
so much between providers? Will that inform the urgent
introduction of further legislation to protect renters?
I am grateful to the hon. Lady. The Bill that she introduced
became an Act in 2018, and it is landmark legislation. She is
right to say, as she warned at the time, that legislation on its
own is not enough and enforcement is required. The number of
people who have used her legislation for the purpose for which it
was intended has been fewer than any of us would have wanted,
given the scale of the problem. I commit to looking at the
recommendations that she just made to see whether that is
genuinely the best way, and I hope that we can come to an
appropriate conclusion to ensure that appropriate enforcement is
in place.
(Leicester West) (Lab)
Like many hon. Members, I find that by far the biggest issue that
constituents raise with me is housing, including the appalling
standards that we have all seen in social housing and,
critically, in the private rented sector. I would like to press
the Secretary of State a bit more on what his plans are for the
private rented sector. Leicester City Council, like many
councils, is introducing a licensing scheme in parts of the city
to crack down on rogue landlords and improve standards. We know
what the problems are: we have to find the landlords in the first
place, and if we can find them, we do not have the powers we need
to make changes. Promises are given, but it all takes too long.
As my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central () said, we need timescales. May
I press the Secretary of State on what he will do on those issues
specifically: finding the landlords, having the right powers and
implementing those powers swiftly?
The hon. Lady raises a number of important issues. First, local
authorities such as Leicester can use selective licensing, which
can be a powerful tool. Local authority leaders were recently in
front of the Select Committee to discuss the appropriateness of
using selective licensing; some regard it as a useful tool and
others do not, but I believe it has an important role to
play.
The hon. Lady’s second point is about tracking down the ultimate
owner, which is a big problem. On coming into the Department, I
was surprised by the way in which ultimate owners of property
hide behind myriad opaque structures. Through the Land Registry
and elsewhere, we need to find means of determining the ultimate
beneficial owners of property so that we can take appropriate
enforcement action. I look forward to working with the hon. Lady
on the issue.
(Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
(Ind)
The Government spend more on housing benefit and its equivalents
than on policing and transport combined. How much of that £20
billion of public money is paying for substandard, mould-ridden
private rented accommodation? Will the Secretary of State accept
the invitation from the housing ombudsman to extend its remit to
the private rented sector?
We know that there are at least 2.3 million homes that fail the
decent homes standard, broadly. We know that a higher proportion
of homes fail it in the private rented sector than in the social
rented sector. I am always open to all proposals that can ensure
that tenants live in decent homes, irrespective of tenure. I will
consider that proposal.
(Birmingham, Yardley)
(Lab)
My hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts) and
others have mentioned supported exempt accommodation, and on
Friday the House will debate the Supported Housing (Regulatory
Oversight) Bill, which was introduced by the hon. Member for
Harrow East (). I am afraid that I am no stranger to deaths
because of poor housing. In Birmingham, to the best of my
knowledge, there have been three or four deaths—some violent,
some because of the terrible conditions for people living in
dreadful and unregulated supported exempt accommodation. Will the
Secretary of State agree to put some regulation in place? Will he
follow every recommendation of the Select Committee’s report on
the matter? The taxpayer is currently spending billions, but
people are being put in danger.
The hon. Lady makes an important point; I am grateful for her
support for my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East () and his legislation. There is a big problem in
supported housing. As she knows, additional funds are provided to
landlords to ensure that they provide the additional support
required by individuals who are living with a variety of
challenges. There is a subset of landlords who pocket the cash in
those circumstances and then leave vulnerable individuals in
conditions that put them at risk and lead to problems for their
neighbours. We need to deal with this scam; legislation is part
of that, although not all of it. I look forward to working with
her to tackle it.
(Hammersmith) (Lab)
While we are waiting for the improvements that the Secretary of
State has promised in the regulation and resourcing of social
landlords, many tenants are relying on legal aid solicitors and
law centres to pursue disrepair claims. Thanks to legal aid cuts,
they are already a vanishing part of the legal system, but from
next year, housing claims will be subject to fixed recoverable
costs, which will make it unaffordable for small firms and
not-for-profits to take on housing cases. Will the Secretary of
State talk to his colleagues in the Ministry of Justice about how
representation can be maintained for victims of the neglect,
incompetence and discrimination so tragically highlighted in
Awaab’s case?
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that case. The
housing and planning Minister, my right hon. and learned Friend
the Member for South East Cambridgeshire (), is a former Justice Minister;
I know that she and the Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend
the Member for Kensington (), appreciate the
importance of the issue. I hope that we will be able to make
progress.
(York Central)
(Lab/Co-op)
This must be a moment of epiphany. The scale of the problem—damp,
cold, overcrowded housing or no housing at all for my
constituents and constituents across the country— needs to be
addressed by an action plan from every housing provider with a
timeline for when the necessary reparation will be made, but
there also needs to be a deep dive into the skills available to
perform this reparation, because that too is a challenge.
The hon. Lady has made an important point, which gives me the
opportunity to say two things. First, we do need professionalism
within the sector overall, and that is one of the matters that
will be considered in the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill.
Secondly, as the hon. Lady rightly said and as so many other
Members have pointed out, this individual tragedy is reflective
of a broader set of problems in the housing sector. Those
problems, as we have discussed, have been exacerbated by the
nature of the housing stock that we have in this country—its age
and its condition—but that is no excuse for not taking
action.
I think—and I hope this reflects the mood of the House—that we
have reached a point at which we all recognise that, thanks to
this tragedy and thanks to the campaigning of Members on both
sides of the House, as well as the campaigning of individuals
outside such as Kwajo Tweneboa, Daniel Hewitt and Vicky Spratt,
we now know that we need to tackle these questions with a greater
degree of urgency than ever before.
(Stockport) (Lab)
I send my deepest condolences to Awaab’s family. I also pay
tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale (), who has been campaigning on
the issue of decent homes for many years and is a powerful voice
for his constituents.
I want to raise an issue raised earlier by my right hon. Friend
the Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott).
Awaab’s family believe that racism played a significant part in
the way they were treated and the way their complaint was
handled. May I ask the Secretary of State whether he is taking
that point seriously, and whether he will commit himself to an
investigation?
As I mentioned briefly earlier, it does seem to me on the basis
of the facts as they stand—and this has certainly been
articulated very effectively by Awaab’s family’s solicitor—that
the family were on the receiving end of prejudice. Whether it was
unwitting or not, I cannot judge. Linked to that, as the right
hon. Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington mentioned,
there is a significant problem with people from black and
minority ethnic backgrounds not being treated, as they should be,
with respect, and we do need to take that issue seriously. I am
reassured that those who lead the social housing sector
completely understand the need for the highest professional
standards in this area.
Mr Deputy Speaker ( )
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement, and for
responding to questions for over an hour.
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