THOUSANDS OF council homes in England are plagued by damp and mould, a damning report has found.

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) published its findings today after investigating the living conditions of up to four million social houses across the country. 

It was prompted following the tragic death of Awaab Ishak in December 2020. 

The two-year-old died of a respiratory condition caused by being exposed to toxic amounts of mould in a council flat he shared with his parents in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. 

Awaab’s mother and father, Faisal Abdullah and Aisha Amin, had raised repeated concerns about the state of their home to their landlord, but their pleas went ignored. 

Following a coroner’s report into the toddler’s death, the RSH asked for landlords to provide evidence about the severity of damp and mould in their tenant’s homes and how they planned to stamp out the issue.

The housing watchdog estimated that a “notable” damp and mould problem was reported in 3-4% of social housing and a further 1-2% have “serious” problems with damp and mould.

Less than 0.2% of social homes have the “most serious” which falls below housing standards.

“These are not acceptable conditions for tenants to be living in, even if the proportions are relatively small. Local authorities reported proportionately more cases than private registered providers,” the report said. 

Although the vast majority of tenants are living in council houses “largely free from damp and mould,” the regulator warned it could still have a “serious impact on tenants’ health and wellbeing”.

The housing regulator called on landlords to address the issues “promptly and effectively” and said that many were “taking damp and mould seriously”.

The report said they expect all registered providers to make improvements to how they protect tenants from the potential harm that damp and mould can cause and will take action against those who are not compliant with their standards. 

Housing Secretary, Michael Gove, had given his support to Awaab’s Law which will make landlords respond to complaints about damp and mould quickly.

Fiona MacGregor, chief executive of RSH, said: “Tenants deserve quality services and homes that are safe and of a decent standard. Where there are issues, landlords need to act now to put things right, before we start our active consumer regulation including inspections of providers.

“We expect all providers to continue to look at how they can improve the way they identify and address damp and mould.”