More than 30 housing associations registered in Cheshire East have been contacted by Cheshire East Council after the tragic death of a two-year-old boy, writes Belinda Ryan.
The council is checking on all housing associations and how they are dealing with residents’ complaints about damp and mould “as a matter of urgency”.
It follows the death of a two-year-old Awaab Ishak in Rochdale. A coroner concluded the little boy died as a result of prolonged exposure to mould in his family’s rented flat.
Congleton councillor Rob Moreton (Ind) said he has been working alongside residents for the past two years trying to resolve issues with damp in social housing properties and had recently put out a message on social media regarding the matter.
“The response has been massive, and I feel it’s only going to get worse with the cost of living crisis as residents won’t be able to heat their homes.
“The health issues will be massive.
“I’m now working alongside our social housing providers in Congleton to try and get these long standing issues resolved but feel this is a massive problem across the borough.
“So today I’m asking, can this council write to our social housing providers across the borough to make sure they are dealing with residents’ complaints regarding damp in their properties as a matter of urgency, as if this isn’t dealt with correctly and speedily this will be cause massive health issues across Cheshire East.”
Cllr Nick Mannion (Lab) said the council had already contacted all housing associations in Cheshire East.
“Last week, we wrote to all the registered providers that have [housing] stock in Cheshire East asking for an appropriate contact with regard to the related issues of damp, mould and heating because we’re all aware of the tragic case in Rochdale,” he said.
He said there were more than 30 housing associations in the borough and they had been asked to respond before Christmas and, once the contact details were known, the information would be circulated to all councillors.
Point missed is there is one thing a property not being maintained to keep out damp, then there are the households drying washing indoors, where does that go then, hardly suprising mould appears as every home needs a de humidifier running to dry out the damp air inside