A social landlord claimed refugee tenants were lucky to have a roof over their heads and that mould was “acceptable” in their homes, an investigation has found.
A manager at Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), the housing provider whose failure to treat severe mould led to the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, made the remark to a colleague, according to a damning report into the landlord’s wider conduct.
Awaab’s parents came to the UK from Sudan and have previously accused the landlord of racism and “unfair treatment” towards refugees and asylum seekers
Try your luck in Sudan then.
Unless they flew in directly from Sudan they are neither refugees nor asylum seekers. They are welfare state shoppers.
In all the stuff written about the Ishak case, I have read nothing about mould in the flats next door. Nobody seems to have asked whether the mould problem is a consequence of the building, or of the way the occupants use their accommodation. If it’s the building, the neighbouring flats should have had the same problem.
decnine – my understanding of people from that part of the world is that, despite using the blade of their hands as toilet paper, they think they’re better than you because they worship the moon cult.
They may have expected the Infidel to clean their free house.
Just more evidence that the Left’s mental map of the world is entirely the reverse of the truth. In their world having the State as your housing provider is wonderful, the people involved in the management and maintenance of the properties are saints in human form and everything is a heaven on earth. While having a private landlord is the equivalent of dealing with Satan himself, a man (and its always a man, no woman has ever been a landlord in leftworld) whose only aim in life is to extract as much money as possible and inflict as much pain and humiliation as he can on his tenants.
Whereas the reality is as we all know, any bureaucracy will not give too hoots for its ‘clients’, because said clients are just getting in the way of an easy life for the bureaucrat, who gets paid regardless of what sort of service they provide. And indeed petty acts of retribution against complainants are just as likely (probably more so) in the public sector than the private one, as the bureaucrat hates nothing more than his ‘authority’ being questioned. Whereas the private sector tends to be more personal than monolithically institutional, your landlord is quite possibly going to be the actual person who rods the drains when they are blocked, an actual human being whose main aim is to keep you happy so the rent keeps rolling in. And who will be just as worried about mould and damp etc, as its his house too and doesn’t want it deteriorating.
Housing officials said “ritual bathing” and “style of cooking by boiling food” were to blame for damp.
Reminds me of childhood in post-war England, tin bath in front of a coal fire, mother and grandmother boiling pots of meat and veg to within an inch of its life.
“Reminds me of childhood in post-war England, tin bath in front of a coal fire, mother and grandmother boiling pots of meat and veg to within an inch of its life.”
However your post war home would have had enough holes in windows, doors and roofs that ventilation was not a problem! I certainly remember my home growing up having more draughts than a board game convention.
When MrsBud and I were newlyweds, I was a studying at Nottingham university, so we rented a council apartment on an estate that has since been dynamited (I’m not sure where they’ll put my blue plaque). One of the primary reasons why only students and the dregs of society lived there was the damp and mould. Everybody used to demand that the council take action, which they probably should have done. Since we weren’t prepared to wait, we bought a couple of tubs of Cuprinol Damp Seal and painted it on the walls suffering from damp. The problem never recurred while we were still there. Bottom line, even if the landlord should fix it, do you want to live with mould and the health implications or would you rather spend a few quid and live a mould free existence?
Incidentally, we decorated the bathroom together while we were there. As a consequence, we have never decorated a room together since, which is probably part of the reason we have been married for 42 years.
“Bottom line, even if the landlord should fix it, do you want to live with mould and the health implications or would you rather spend a few quid and live a mould free existence?”
I suspect there is a significant proportion of the public who would indeed refuse to help themselves because they consider that someone else’s job, and will quite happily suffer rather than do anything to solve the problem themselves.
“Ritual bathing”. Presumably it doesn’t take place in a bath or shower as that would be “normal bathing” or just bathing.
So what are we dealing with? Adults and children washing themselves down in a non-draining kitchen, living room or bedroom? That would certainly account for any damp and mould.
One has to be a bit careful about that one Jim. Most tenancy agreements will state that the tenant should not change the property in any way without the landlord’s permission. And landlords may be reluctant to give permission, because they can’t be sure what the result of what the tenant does may be. Tenant does it off their own bat, they may be hazarding their tenancy or risk losing their deposit.
Ran foul of that one with the first flat I rented here. The state of the walls in some of the rooms was pretty shabby so I gave them a couple of coats of emulsion. I actually got verbal permission, as part of accepting the tenancy. I should have got it written into the contract. When the tenancy ended the renter withheld the deposit on the basis they didn’t like the colour. No particular reason. There were various colours used throughout, when I moved in & the one I used wasn’t anything to object to. It was just an excuse to hold on to the deposit. I probably could have sued them for it. But that would have required before & after evidence & considerable legal expense. Not a particular obstacle to me, because I could afford to do it & wouldn’t be bothered about the length of time it would take. Most tenants can’t do that. They need their deposit for the next rental.
It’s always a problem. Some landlords are pretty straight. But then one probably wouldn’t have the problem with the property in the first place. And others aren’t & those may be the ones with duff properties.
@BernieG
I commented on this here at the time. By the look of the cooking vessels that were shown in the photos, they were likely doing some form of commercial cooking. They were far too great in both size & number for a couple with one young child.
Cillit Bang. About five quid per litre.
Or open the window.
(To be fair, the government told us not to open the window, because that would allow the killer bugs to fly in.)
Have to allow for culture. You need a decent size pot to accommodate the odd missionary, BiS…
I work for a social housing company in repairs. The sheer number of people who have no idea how to maintain basic standards of cleanliness and hygiene in our properties is beyond staggering – and that’s regardless of where they have come from or have been born. They don’t heat or ventilate them properly for a start. Stiff window or door handle – don’t bother with a drop of WD40 – just keep riving it shut until you snap it off. Blocked drains? Maybe don’t pour half a gallon of cooking oil down the sink every day.
When I was a kid (one of 5 boys) we lived in a two up two down 1900-built end of terrace. 5 of us in one bedroom until my folks converted the loft. Every morning before work my old man would go around the house with a chamois and wipe down every window with condensation on it. We never ever had a spot of mould.
Now, I’m not saying some of this housing stock isn’t knackered and beyond redemption – it absolutely is – and some of it all should be demolished; would I let my kid live in a property for years covered in black mould, no. I would do some very basic things to minimise it, and if that’s a change of lifestyle, I know which comes first.
“When the tenancy ended the renter withheld the deposit on the basis they didn’t like the colour. ”
Here in the Reich, many interior walls are what is colloquially known as “landlord white”. There are regular cases that go to the highest court in the land to determine what colour a tenant must leave their walls, and when and if they must paint anew and are followed with great fascination the length and breadth of the Reich.
The general rule is that you must leave your walls painted in “landlord white”. This of course results in many layers of paint building up as there are at least two paintings per change of tenant.
I preferred the rule when we lived in the Most Serene Republic, that you take your apartment in the colours you find it, paint as you see fit, and leave it thus on departure. Presumably the white paint industry has fewer connections in the Serene Republic than the Reich.
@steve – I’ve been to 3 muslim countries and they are all covered in rubbish. They throw their rubbish on the ground and expect others to pick it up. Brought into relief when in Jordan- Theres odd Christian areas and the streets are immaculately clean whilst the surrounding muslim areas are shitholes. It’s beneath the average muslim to clean up after themselves.
Julia M.: Have to allow for culture. You need a decent size pot to accommodate the odd missionary
Bernie G.: Reminds me of childhood in post-war England […] mother and grandmother boiling pots of meat […] to within an inch of its life.
!
moqifen – by their fruits shall ye know them.
Spent a summer working on the phones for social housing repairs department, there’s people who wouldn’t fix a loose handle on a kitchen draw and call and complain about it every couple of days until it was fixed. If you really wanted to game the system it was a leak and near something electrical then badger the person who turned up to fix other stuff as they are already there anyway
@decnine – “In all the stuff written about the Ishak case, I have read nothing about mould in the flats next door.”
Well, then I suggest you read the linked article where you will find it says:
“On the Rochdale estate where Awaab lived, 80% of the 380 homes had damp and mould and 12 were branded as Category 1 hazards – which means they may pose a risk to life.”
““On the Rochdale estate where Awaab lived, 80% of the 380 homes had damp and mould and 12 were branded as Category 1 hazards – which means they may pose a risk to life.””
And how many of the inhabitants were doing exactly the same as the deceased’s parents?
A few years of capping immigration, both legal and illegal, might enable the country to increase and improve its housing supply (maybe even for the benefit of its own citizens first).
@ Jim
Not 80%, I’ll bet.
Anyhow, are you suggesting that they were cooking in his bedroom?
@John – “A few years of capping immigration”
I don’t know what country you are living in, but the UK has capped immigration for a very long time indeed. Restrictions started with the Commonwealth Immigrants Act in 1962 and have become ever more restrictive on many occasions since.
John probably meant successfully capping immigration.
As you can see from https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2022/how-many-people-are-detained-or-returned section 2, many people have been forcibly removed from the UK over the years, and the number refused entry is growing (i.e. by airlines etc when people do not have the correct paperwork).
Though maybe that is not enough to be considered successful by those who are sufficiently racist, xenophobic, or left-wing.