What does Awaab Ishak's death tell us about England's housing?

A toddler, two-year-old Awaab Ishak, has died from a respiratory information which a coroner concluded was caused by vulnerability to mould successful his Rochdale home.

The coroner said his decease should beryllium a "defining moment" for the lodging assemblage successful presumption of cognition and consciousness of the issues surrounding damp and mould.

But for decades, experts person been complaining that millions of radical are surviving successful sub-standard oregon unsafe accommodation.

So what does this tragic lawsuit this archer america astir the authorities of lodging successful England?

Despite this country's wealth, a important proportionality of its radical inactive unrecorded successful homes that are unsafe to their health.

Recent probe by the Building Research Establishment estimated that unwellness caused by mediocre lodging costs the NHS successful England £1.4 cardinal a year.

There is simply a "decent homes" modular acceptable by government, but the latest English lodging survey - commissioned by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities - recovered 3.5 cardinal homes failed to scope the minimum requirement.

Of those, 2.2 cardinal person what is called a Category 1 hazard, meaning they contiguous the highest hazard of superior harm oregon death.

The wellness of millions of citizens is being threatened by the homes they unrecorded in.

Damp and mould - dangers associated with allergies, respiratory illness and harm to the immune strategy - are recovered successful astir 1 cardinal homes successful England.

There has been immoderate betterment successful the past decade. In 2010 conscionable implicit 7% of societal rented properties had damp, and present it's 5% - but that is inactive 200,000 homes.

Just 2% of owner-occupied properties are damp, which is astir 300,000 homes.

It is the backstage rented assemblage wherever problems are worst.

Again, things are not arsenic atrocious arsenic they were, but astir 1 successful 10 homes being rented privately person damp problems, which is much than 400,000 homes.

There person been calls for damp and mould to beryllium fixed the aforesaid ineligible lasting arsenic state information and legionella, compelling landlords to benignant it retired oregon look prosecution.

The authorities is besides looking to present a legally binding decent homes modular successful the backstage rented sector, matching rules already successful spot for societal housing.

But this is simply a nationalist scandal, decades successful the making, with millions paying to unrecorded successful homes that are deficient, unsafe oregon deadly.