Over time, social housing has been crucial in aligning dignity, quality and reassurance for those nationwide who’ve struggled to meet their housing needs in an unaffordable and ruthless private rental sector. Yet, today we’re met with staggering figures like 274,000 homeless people across the country, costs to the NHS of over £1 billion a year due to poor housing conditions, 115,000 unfit social housing properties throughout London, and unfortunately, the tragic deaths of the Grenfell Tower victims and, more recently, two-year-old, Awaab Ishak.
Little Awaab Ishak passed away shortly after his second birthday following breathing difficulties on 21st December 2020. The cause of death was recently determined by coroners as a result of “environmental mould pollution” due to the amount of mould, dampness and condensation in the family’s flat. According to the coroner, Joanne Kersley, the property “was not equipped for normal day-to-day living activities,” and [this] “should be a defining moment for the housing sector”.