Awaab Ishak: Parents of boy killed by mould call for new law as housing boss sacked

Awaab Ishak died from a respiratory condition caused by mould in the one-bedroom flat where he lived

The parents of a boy who died from exposure to mould in a housing association property have called for a new law to be implemented in their son’s name, insisting his “death must not be in vain.”

The call for new legislation from Awaab Ishak’s family came just hours after the boss of the housing association who refused to resign over his death was removed from his post.

Under chief executive Gareth Swarbrick, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) received multiple complaints about mould from the parents of Awaab before he died from a respiratory condition in December 2020.

A coroner ruled that the toddler’s death was caused by prolonged exposure to mould in the flat where he lived with his mother Aisha Amin and father Faisal Abdhullah in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

Mr Swarbrick, who earned £170,000 in the year Awaab died, had insisted he would not stand down as leader of the housing association and the body’s board initially backed him.

But in a statement released on Saturday, the RBH board 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.”

In a statement given on Saturday, Awaab’s family’s lawyer said: “This should be a defining moment for the housing sector.

“The family were deeply saddened that, following the inquest, RBH did nothing but express their confidence in the chief executive, despite doing everything in the courtroom to indicate that significant changes would be made.

“The fact that RBH’s chief executive had to be sacked, as opposed to resigning, for the family speaks volumes.”

He added that Awaab’s family found it “wholly unacceptable” that the board initially expressed confidence in Mr Swarbrick.

“The family still feel that much more needs to be done, and a further statement will be released in due course.”

He thanked the public on behalf of Awaab’s family for their support, saying it kept them “strong at a time they felt their weakest” and played a “vital role in RBH’s chief executive being sacked”.

“The family would now urge the public to go online and sign the petition calling for an Awaab’s Law,” the laywer explained.

“Awaab’s death must not be in vain. They do not want any other family to go through the devastation they have.”

RBH’s board said its “original instincts” were to keep Mr Swarbrick in the role in a bid to “see the organisation through this difficult period and to make the necessary changes”, but conceded this was “no longer tenable”.

“As an organisation, we are deeply sorry for the death of Awaab and devastated that it happened in one of our homes,” the statement continued.

“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.”

The RBH statement continued: “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.”

It also vowed to share lessons about the health impact of damp, condensation and mould with the social housing sector and to support 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,” RBH said.

“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.”

Mr Swarbrick had previously insisted that the conversation about his position had begun to “overshadow the most important part of all of this, which is that a family has lost their child”.

He also said he had spoken with levelling-up secretary Michael Gove to “discuss the issues we face in social housing”, adding that RBH had “made a raft of changes” after Awaab’s death.

Mr Swarbrick added: “We all have a duty to call out prejudice, wherever we see it.

“Equity is at the heart of what we do as a mutual housing society and we will continue to strive for greater inclusion and equality.

“We agree with the coroner that the tragic death of Awaab will be, and should be, a defining moment for the whole housing sector.”