The dad, who lived in the mouldy council home for nearly two years before his family were rehomed, claimed one of his children was hospitalised
Birmingham City Council House(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
A Birmingham dad has been awarded £3,800 after claiming his children fell ill – including one that was hospitalised – from living in a mouldy council flat for nearly two years.
A housing ombudsman has ordered Birmingham City Council to pay the dad to ‘remedy the injustice’.
The dad, referred to as ‘Mr B’ in the ombudsman’s report, was said to have repeatedly told the authority to fix the damp and mould at his temporary accommodation.
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However, the ombudsman found his complaints either weren’t taken seriously enough or the council’s workmen failed to fix the root cause of the issue.
The dad, who moved into the home in October 2023, claimed his children became unwell from the dire living conditions.
He claimed one of his children was hospitalised after falling ill in July 2024.
The council, which had initially refused Mr B’s requests to be rehomed, despite his local MP intervening, failed to fix ongoing issues with the drainage.
The family were not rehomed until June 2025 – 20 months after they first moved in.
“In July 2024, Mr B told the council his young child had been hospitalised due to the damp and mould in the property,” wrote the ombudsman.
“In early August 2024, Mr B raised a complaint with the council. He said damp and mould remained throughout the property and it was causing his children to be unwell.
“He explained there was a blocked drain outside of the property which was causing the problems, and that the council’s contractor had not been able to resolve the problem no matter how many times he raised repair jobs with it.
“The council was at fault for its delays in carrying out the repairs, in carrying out an inspection, making a new suitability decision and not treating Mr B’s repeated contacts as a trigger for a review of suitability.”
The ombudsman found the council was also at fault for not moving the family to a different property “when the service co-ordinator decided he needed to be urgently rehoused”.
“Because of the fault, Mr B suffered distress and frustration,” added the ombudsman.
“He remained living in poor conditions with his family for longer than they should have.
“The council has agreed to apologise to Mr B, make a symbolic payment, and issue staff briefings.”
The ombudsman ordered the council to pay Mr B £3,800 to “acknowledge the injustice caused”.
A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said: “We apologise to Mr B for the distress caused and have agreed to pay £3,800 compensation.
“We always endeavour to do our best to support our residents but acknowledge this did not happen here.
“As part of our learning from this case we will ensure all relevant staff understand fully the council’s duties around inspections and suitability of accommodation and the need to get things right first time.”