Death of a two year old in substandard social housing

It really worries me how many will loon at those images and think those people aren't cleaning.

Mould can appear devastatingly quickly and be at the point where you can bleach surfaces including ceilings and its back by the time you finish...

Because it was always still there under the paint

This is horrific

And as a housing Tennant with my vent to nowhere by jobsworths that can't be bothered

I can't see a problem this large solely being lifestyle when they were asking for help

how are people to clean the ceiling

Smileless2012

Surely that amount of mould can't just be down to poor ventilation with just 2 adults and a two year old living there.

He did look happy and healthy didn't he Callistemon, it's a terrible tragedy that should never have happened.

the mould was all over the ceiling and pinkish too which suggested bacterial growth.

the flat block didn't look too old either

Margiknot, I agree there should be an information campaign. Also all schoolchildren need to learn basic housekeeping, which is changing rapidly in these days of austerity.

Surely that amount of mould can't just be down to poor ventilation with just 2 adults and a two year old living there.

He did look happy and healthy didn't he Callistemon, it's a terrible tragedy that should never have happened.

it had nothing to do with poor cleaning
poor boy

This level of damp is literally damaging the property itself.

Tenants begging for help.

How can anyone not understand that something could have been done to help them and prevent this and it was all in the landlords ultimate benefit to so?

This is disgusting and should never have happened.

These clips are from a program I watched.
Unspeakable 😡

twitter.com/DanielHewittITV/status/1373966081061220359?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1373966081061220359%7Ctwgr%5E93066df9b5d0cbbe4abff1e75507c857485bfc3c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.co.uk%2Fentry%2Fcouncil-housing-south-london-damp-mould_uk_6058d87fc5b66a80f4e9a0be

It’s time this issue was highlighted. I think I heard on the news that the mould was caused by poor ventilation in the flat. I suspect that many buildings (particularly modern flats and older properties divided into small flats) have poor ventilation. I wonder if there should be some sort of information campaign - to help us all (developers, landlords, residents) understand how to balance warmth humidity and ventilation.

Violet Sky, my 60s semi which is really well built gets damp due in large part to my drying washing indoors without a drying machine.

I keep the back door open most of the day to air the place.

Flats don't have back doors , and usually lack gardens for drying washing outdoors. There is a housekeeping issue that needs to be dealt with, and will involve some money being spent on drying facilities for people in flats who have no drying machines or money to run them.

Extractor fans
Mould-resistant paint
Dry lining walls?
Checking damp-proof courses.

Surely it's not that expensive or difficult? It just needs more action and less bureaucracy and hand-wringing.

Poor little boy, he looked so happy and healthy.

There is no way that amount of damp was caused by one family unless they left the shower on 24/7, never had a radiator on and never opened a door

That's ridiculous

This is disgusting and there should be regulations and checks to stop it from happening. Poor little chap he never had a life.

There are plenty of other cases of families living in disgusting mouldy housing throughout the whole UK. It is a disgrace and needs addressing. Hopefully this tragic case will highlight that and something gets done. I’m not sure it should be regarded as just being racist when it is so widespread. Whatever. It needs rectifying pdq before another child dies.

The report did say the problem with mould was caused by poor ventilation in the property.
What we don’t know is whether the tenants were aware (or were made aware) of the importance of opening windows in rooms such as the kitchen and bathroom, especially when cooking or showering.

Growstuff, then the landlords needed to educate the tenants about how to ventilate and heat the flats.

If they can't afford the heating then that is a separate issue.

The landlords did claim it was a "lifestyle" issue, but they had 600 other tenants with the same issues. They also found that the extraction fan in the bathroom wasn't working properly. Many flats don't have windows in the bathroom, so this could have been an issue.

PS I wonder it this is a clear case for the issuing of de-humidifiers.

Is the mould caused by a leaky building, or is it caused by poor ventilation? We really need to know. If it's poor ventilation it's bad housekeeping that caused the mould.
Obviously there are may people who don't know how to ventilate and heat a house or flat. The landlord should deal with informing the tenant how to maintain the house properly. Did the housing authority do this?

There is going to be an increase in problems of dampness due to people unable to afford to heat and dry their indoor spaces.

I had this for a patient of mine The landlord got furious with me because I repeatedly wrote letters to the council to get patients with newborn babies rehoused as there was mould in the flat Just interested in rent

The home where this baby lived his short life.

This is awful

When we moved in, I took off a vent to paint and there was no hole underneath

This was in a chimney

They cut this sort of corner and people live like this and die like this despite paying more than enough rent to have a properly maintained home

It's disgusting, they should face charges

Iam64

The radio 4 coverage I heard referred to poor or non existent communication between those expressing concern that housing was affecting this little boys health. It seems a midwife, health visitor and doctor were aware but didn’t coordinate or share information.
Its shocking that this could happen in social housing.

The Manchester Evening News has more details of the lack of communication:

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/ways-tragic-two-year-old-25509480

I find it shocking and reprehensible that with all of today’s technology - emails for example - that various departments still seem unable to share concerns needing urgent attention in a robust manner. Too many ‘open ended’ or ineffectual communications. It’s dispiriting and in this case, tragic.

One of the problems is that we have a lot of housing built before central heating was common. They were ventilated through fireplaces and chimneys. Closing up those points and over heating houses means that mould thrives. One of the solutions is to open a window regularly, of course no one wants to do that because the house gets cold. It is a very difficult problem to deal with. Drying washing inside contributes to the problem.