![\"Awaab](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_awaab3.jpg\")
Awaab Ishak, who died five years ago(Image: Family)<\/p>\nThere is a huge backlog of damp and mould repairs in council housing across BristolAwaab Ishak, who died five years ago(Image: Family)<\/p>\n
A toddler died five years ago after prolonged exposure to mould in his home in Rochdale. The death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak sparked calls for a change in the law, to force social housing landlords to act promptly on damp and mould and prevent similar deaths happening in future.<\/p>\n
Awaab\u2019s Law comes into effect next month but housing chiefs at Bristol City Council<\/a> have already admitted they might not comply with the rules. Only a third of council homes have been surveyed, IT systems tracking hazards need updating, and there is a huge backlog of repairs<\/a>.<\/p>\n An update on how the council is preparing for the new law<\/a> was given to councillors on the housing policy committee on Friday, September 19. Green Councillor Lisa Stone said: \u201cWe\u2019ve known about Awaab\u2019s Law and its intentions and yet we are completely on the back foot.\u201d<\/p>\n The law comes into force on October 27. Social housing landlords will have to address all emergency hazards and damp and mould that present a significant risk within set timeframes. Awaab\u2019s parents repeatedly complained to their landlord for three years before his death, but no action was taken to treat the mould that later killed their young son.<\/p>\n Sonia Furzland, the council\u2019s executive director of housing, said: \u201cWe did know that Awaab\u2019s Law was coming, which is why we instigated a preparedness review to assist us in terms of where we need to be prioritising our work. The historical underinvestment and perhaps lack of focus on compliance areas meant that we were trying to eat a bit of an elephant.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we have been focusing not just on damp and mould, but on electrical inspections and compliance, repairs backlogs, smoke detection, CO2 detection, asbestos inspections and stock condition inspection surveys. We have made significant progress but we are not as far forward as we would like to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Housing chiefs will bring an action plan to the policy committee about how they intend to meet the new legal requirements. Greens, who have been in charge of the council since May last year, put the blame on Labour<\/a> who had run the council for the previous eight years. Labour hit back and said a new survey of council tenants<\/a> shows a steep drop in how satisfied they are.<\/p>\n Green Councillor Barry Parsons, chair of the housing committee, said: \u201cOne of the things that we continue to discover as we open more doors and find more cases of damp and mould is evidence of historic failure under the Labour administration.\u201d<\/p>\n Labour Cllr Zo\u00eb Peat added: \u201cThis administration often points to the previous one to try and justify poor performance, which is unfortunate. That\u2019s not to say that with 14 years of austerity that Labour didn\u2019t have to make difficult challenges. But in one year, overall [tenant] satisfaction has fallen from 71 per cent to 63, with every major category declining.\u201d<\/p>\n Join Bristol Live\u2019s WhatsApp community for top stories and breaking news sent directly to your phone<\/strong><\/p>\n Bristol Live<\/a> is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.<\/p>\n Through the app, we\u2019ll send the latest breaking news, top stories, exclusives and much more straight to your phone.<\/p>\n To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select \u2018Join Community\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live<\/a> team.<\/p>\n We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.<\/p>\n To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose \u2018Exit group\u2019.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Mould](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_mould6.jpg\")
Mould in the kitchen shortly after Awaab’s death(Image: Greater Manchester Police)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_WhatsApp-Phone.jpg\")
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