Scheme to fix thousands of mould-infested social homes in the West Midlands nears completion

The £15 million programme has seen more than 4,400 homes treated under the West Midland Combined Authority’s (WMCA) Social Housing Decency Fund.

Councils have been carrying out the work, which has been prompted by the forthcoming Awaab’s Law to be introduced by the Government later this year.

This will require social housing landlords such as councils and housing associations to investigate and fix black mould and damp within strict timelines.

The new law, which will come into force in October, is named after three-year-old Awaab Ishak who tragically died from mould exposure in his Rochdale home in 2020.

English Housing Survey figures show there are around 90,000 homes in the West Midlands that fail to meet modern decency standards.

Around 60,000 of these are privately rented and 30,000 are social homes for rent, owned by councils or housing associations.

West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker and Cllr Jayne Francis, Birmingham City Council’s cabinet member for housing and homelessness visited the home of Ruqia Ali and her family, one of thousands to have benefited from the Social Housing Decency Fund.

She lives with husband Abdikadir and their three children, six-year-old son Zayd and daughter Sara, aged three, and two-month-old boy Zakariya in a council house in Bordesley Green, Birmingham.

Mrs Ali’s home had been riddled with damp and mould, aggravating her asthma and posing a health risk to her family.

Her home is now mould free after measures were installed including roof space ventilation and specialist kitchen and bathroom fans.

In addition to the Social Housing Decency Fund, the city council is investing £1.6bn into improving its council houses over the next seven years.

And earlier this month the Mayor launched a £167m energy efficiency fund which will upgrade around 10,000 low income households, both social homes and privately-owned properties, to make them warmer and cheaper to run.