Death of a two year old in substandard social housing

M0nica

When I have not had a garage to dry washing in, I dry it in one specific room, with the door shut and the window wide open.

This really does show that some people have no knowledge or understandng as to how so many people live. Families in social/housing association etc properties barely have enough room(s) to provide bedrooms for individulas, let alone have a garage or a room in which to keep the laundry!!!!!

On tv new recently, the single parent Dad, with two young boys on the 13th floor of a Tower Block in a one bedroom flat. All three of them having to sleep in one double sized bed!!!.

I don’t intend to derail this discussion but urmston’ s point about open ended communication resonated with me. I’ve had endless unproductive, frustrating, lengthy telephone and form contact with the DWP as a result of my husband’s death.

We seem to be in a place where the people tasked with answering phones see it as acceptable to have you hold on for 30 mins or more. Then you’re told they don’t deal with that, phone in again on the same number but press 4 instead of x. Im competent, I can afford my mobile phone, English is my first language.
I can imagine how these parents were robbed off, ignored.

M0nica

When I have not had a garage to dry washing in, I dry it in one specific room, with the door shut and the window wide open.

I doubt if many social housing flats have a spare room which can be used for laundry. It would appear that the bathroom in the flat in Rochdale didn't have a window and relied on a broken extractor fan.

When I have not had a garage to dry washing in, I dry it in one specific room, with the door shut and the window wide open.

Urmstongran

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.

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.

Exactly this!

In the 'old' days it would've required telephone calls and letters via snail-mail which understandably would've slowed down any progress with a problem like this. Now a mail can be whizzed off in a matter of minutes.

It's almost as if the various 'agencies' involved aren't really interested in dealing with the problem.

This is the same culture that appears to operate when yet another tragic death of a child at the hands of its parents makes headline news. Where it's explained as "missed opportunities". There does appear to be an awful lot of opportunities being missed, as opposed to, say, sheer incompetence somewhere along the line.

Long, but interesting read from the Ombudsman about damp and mould:

www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Spotlight-report-Damp-and-mould-final.pdf

I bought the dehumidifier, they worry about the running cost

Thanks for confirming about the dehumidifier only working if there are no structural defects.

It's sadly too late for the family mentioned, but was thinking of people in the future. Not pointing the finger at all, but aware of financial struggles that may make buying or running a dehumidifier impossible. On top of this, people who are refugees from a warmer climate are going to find Britain really cold and probably don't know they are meant to ventilate if they aren't told. Building standards are different here than other parts of the world.

More information and help needed to avoid anything like this happening ever again. It never should have happened.

Agreed growstuff. My daughter’s bungalow is sound but they’re self employed and on tight income. Luckily they’ve good family support

Dehumidifiers only work if there's no structural problem. If there is, the damp air will just continue to enter the building, bringing all sorts of nasties with it.

I bought a dehumidifier for one of my daughters. They’re constantly washing, 2 adults, 2 small children, one an occasional bed wetter/. They can’t afford to use a drier. Washing draped over driers and radiators led to damp especially in one of the little ones bedroom. The dehumidifier helps .
I’ve tried to buy an electric clothes drier, the one everyone knows is effective and economical. Sold out.

OnwardandUpward

If people can afford dehumidifiers, I've heard they make the washing dry a lot quicker. Obviously for someone on a low income , they might not be able to afford buying one in the first place, let alone paying for the electric to run it.

If the building itself is faulty, then a dehumidifier may not help? I wonder if Housing Associations can lend them to their tenants who have a damp problem?

We bought one for DC and she used the aircon too but the building itself is faulty.

Dehumoidify, scrub, wash, clean, spray the mites, repeat.
It's like fighting a losing battle.

varian

Isn't deregulation just wonderful!!!

NO

This

It’s all very well “educating” tenants to ventilate properties by opening windows, but if it’s freezing cold outside, if they have to dry clothes indoors, can’t afford a condensing dryer, can’t adequately heat the property, and importantly there is inadequate or no insulation or structural ventilation it’s not going to help much.

Isn't deregulation just wonderful!!!

NO

The newspaper article I read claimed there were 600 homes with damp/mould controlled by this housing association. That's about 5% of their total stock.

Either there are structural problems - in which case they need to do the repairs - or their tenants need some serious educating (probably both) - in which case, it's a serious enough problem for personal visits and explaining to people what they need to do.

Just turning a blind eye and saying it's up to the tenants isn't good enough.

When I saw the title of this thread I wondered to myself if anyone would be unkind enough to blame the tenants or parents.

I have to wonder where all this helpful advice was when desperate parents were asking for help

But let's not talk about that, let's give it now when it's too late instead of showing a little empathy

MissAdventure

Should people who aren't in social housing be educated, then?

Heavens to murgatroyde, what are you thinking 😱

I was told by a |Scottish landlord that before you are allowed to rent out a property in Scotland you have to prove you are of good character. This should apply everywhere.
I know someone who is afraid to complain about anything to the landlord for fear of being evicted.

If people can afford dehumidifiers, I've heard they make the washing dry a lot quicker. Obviously for someone on a low income , they might not be able to afford buying one in the first place, let alone paying for the electric to run it.

If the building itself is faulty, then a dehumidifier may not help? I wonder if Housing Associations can lend them to their tenants who have a damp problem?

My DC has been stressed exhausted and left out of pocket because of similar problems and I worry about possible health problems.
It turns out to be rising damp, although the agent says there is no such thing.

It’s most definitely not so called victim blaming to say that everyone has a responsibility to keep their home properly ventilated to prevent damp causing problems. This applies to tenants as well as owner -occupier.
It may well be though in this particular case that the construction of the whole block of flats was mostly the problem, but we don’t know for sure yet.
A news article did mention poor ventilation.

All I and some others have pointed out is that there’s a great deal we can all do in preventing the problem getting worse.

Esspee

The landlord is getting the blame but surely the parents have a responsibility to keep the property aired, heated and cleaned. It is relatively cheap to kill off mould with a simple bleach spray, one done, if the damp is controlled it shouldn’t return.

I have had great difficulty trying to get highly intelligent overseas tenants to understand that sealing up windows over the winter will cause damp buildup from breathing, cooking, and drying clothes inside without using the dryer supplied.

Now that energy is so expensive this problem is only going to get worse.

It is not always the landlord to blame.

Victim blaming always makes one feel better, doesn’t it?

So sad in this day and age.