Awaab Ishak: calls for Rochdale residents to be moved and number of complaints about housing body revealed

Mental health experts have called for people on the Rochdale estate that was where tragic Awaab Ishak lived to be rehoused at the town’s Seven Sisters tower blocks – where hundreds of flats are being held empty ahead of demolition.

An inquest into the death of little Awaab found the two-year-old’s death was caused by a severe respiratory condition after living in damp and mouldy conditions at the Freehold estate – just a mile away from the doomed high rises at College Bank.

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) – which owns and manages both estates – is planning to drop four of the Seven Sisters as part of its controversial plans for regenerating the ‘town centre area’. Some 400 homes have been left empty as RBH rehouses residents ahead of pulling the blocks down and refurbishing the three remaining towers – a strategy that has already invited fierce criticism given there are 22,000 people on the borough’s waiting list.

RBH insists it is ‘committed to creating homes of the highest quality’ and residents’ wellbeing remains its ‘top priority’ as it embarks upon its long-term regeneration programme.

But now the mutual – which sacked CEO Gareth Swarbrick in the wake of the Awaab Ishak tragedy –  is coming under pressure to open up the Seven Sisters to Freehold residents from the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP).

Saiqa Naz, president of BABCP’s board of trustees says people at the Freehold Estate are ‘scared for their lives – especially those that still live in the same block of flats as Awaab’.

“They are telling me they now have physical health problems like asthma and breathing difficulties because of the mould and that’s going to stay with them for the rest of their lives,” she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“We know there is a link between physical and mental health. But also they are going to bed at night worried about their lives. That’s quite a traumatic experience for them and it’s on repeat every single day, feeling quite helpless.”

Saiqa, who grew up in Rochdale and lives in the town, added:  “If people living in mouldy flats and feeling threatened they need to be removed. The Seven Sisters has empty flats and my understanding is RBH has taken the electricity out but they are not mouldy and damp and can be quickly repaired.

“And then those residents who are scared for their lives can be brought to a place of safety – there’s a physical safety and a psychological safety that needs to be taken into account as well.”

She also stresses that while the focus has been on mould and damp in the wake of Awaab’s death, people will also need help to deal with the ‘trauma’ of what has happened.

BABCP says the experience of living in poor housing conditions – particularly those proven to be detrimental to health –  can cause people ‘phenomenal’ levels of anxiety.

It’s a point picked up by Colin Hughes,  honorary secretary of BABCP’s board of trustees.

“That starts a cycle of worry without resolution. It can create a situation where people’s resilience significantly decreases. In combination with their physical health that increases their vulnerability, which tips them quite often into quite significant ill health.”

Colin, a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) specialist,  says efforts to improve people’s psychological wellbeing can be hampered where ‘institutional problems’ exist.

He said: “What that does is it instils within the individuals the idea that perhaps there’s something fundamentally wrong with them. That they’re not getting better when they should be because this treatment works – when, in actuality, it’s because of the situation that they face.”

A spokesperson for RBH said the entire organisation was ‘committed to creating homes of the highest quality where residents feel safe and secure – because their wellbeing is our top priority’.

They added: “To this aim, since 2017, we have worked closely with and consulted our residents regarding our comprehensive regeneration plans. This will enable us to not only improve the quality of homes, but also continue providing the housing needed by our current residents and future generations. 

“This is a long-term and complex project and as residents are supported throughout this process, there will be a number of empty properties in blocks scheduled for demolition that are therefore, unsuitable for new tenants. However, tenants are being supported to relocate to a new home, in an area of their choice.”

RBH says it is also dedicated to supporting residents’ mental health and wellbeing, pointing to the fact it has previously held drop-in sessions supported by the charity Mind. It will also be working closely with the Tenants and Residents Association in Freehold ‘to explore what further support residents might need’.

Meanwhile, a report has showed Rochdale Boroughwide Housing attracted almost 600 complaints last year.

According to figures from their latest annual report, they received 595 housing complaints in total and more than 40% were related to repairs.

The RBH spokesman added: “We firmly believe that tenants have the right to live in safe and secure homes, and our priority is to continuously understand the condition of all our homes to enable us to improve them.

“We aim to resolve all complaints as swiftly as possible in the first instance. However, where that is not possible and additional time is needed to understand the complaint, we filter complaints in two categories. Stage One refers to matters that require investigation or are more complex; if our tenant is unhappy with our response at Stage One, they can escalate this complaint to Stage Two. Of the complaints referred to in our most recent annual report, 98%received a response within the target timescales we set out in our Complaints Policy.

“We also aim to prioritise queries that pose a safety risk or are from our most vulnerable tenants and are developing new processes to further support this.

“We understand maintenance issues can cause stress and anxiety for tenants, which is why we are committed to listening and responding to their feedback, and why we are continuing to improve our reporting and response to ensure we are providing safe and secure housing for everyone.”