Hackney mother who fears mould in her council flat is affecting her children’s asthma calls for annual housing checks

Mould and damp inside Patel’s flat. Photograph: Julia Gregory

A mother who fears her children’s asthma is being affected by damp and mould has called on housing bosses to get on top of the problem.

Raeesa Patel said annual checks in council homes would be a “good idea” after having repeated treatment to tackle issues in her two-bedroom flat.

She said her flat on Kenninghall Road has suffered from mould and damp for about six years and got worse during the pandemic.

Two of her children, aged four and 11, have inhalers for asthma and she has used mould paint in the bedrooms several times.

“We have to clean the mould off two or three times in the winter,” she said.

The bathroom ceiling is also affected and can be wet to the touch.

“Once the council has painted it, the mould comes back,” she explained.

She is concerned about the impact on her family’s health and others with the same problem.

Patel is worried about the impact on two of her children who have asthma. Photograph: Julia Gregory

It follows the death of Rochdale toddler Awaab Ishak, who died from respiratory problems caused by prolonged exposure to mould in a housing association home.

“The council needs to take action quickly, I think an annual check would be good,” Patel added. “They need to find a long-term solution to fix it.”

Cllr Clayeon McKenzie, who is in charge of Hackney’s council housing, said: “Damp and mould is an extensive issue being faced by social and private landlords across the country. However, we are committed to redoubling our efforts to help tackle the problem in Hackney through the damp and mould action plan we launched last year.”

During the 2021/22 winter, council staff inspected 541 homes after reports of damp and mould. This increased to 1,661 over the 2022/23 winter and the council thinks the increase is partly due to concerns following Ishak’s death.

Overall, the Town Hall gets 80,000 requests to deal with repairs every year.

The council is reassessing outstanding damp and mould repairs and prioritising them depending on the severity of the problem and the residents’ ages.

Cllr McKenzie said the council has several times “successfully completed repairs on the issues [Patel] has reported as well as removed and treated the damp and mould that had built up as a result”.

Staff are surveying the family’s home to see if more work is needed and will get the work done “as quickly as possible”, according to Cllr McKenzie.