Sinead has lived in his apartment in Brighton since 2020
“I fear for his health because I know that once he returns, his health begins to deteriorate again,” explains Sinead shows us the mold sticking the walls of the apartment she shares with her son .
When she and Aziyah, five years old, moved into their homes in Brighton in 2020, it seemed in good condition. But black mold quickly started to appear. Over the next two years, he spread on the walls, even on beds and furniture.
The 25 -year -old man, who rents rents for £ 1,100 per month, initially pointed out to his owner, but despite their attempt to improve ventilation, the problem has remained. A year later, Aziyah began to develop health problems and then received an asthma diagnosis.
Five years since it all started, despite the repeated complaints to its owner and his local advice, the problem of the mold of Sinead has not been resolved and it feels trapped.
“No matter how much I scream, I’m not heard,” she said.
More than half a million rented houses – private and social – have black mold problems in England, revealed a government investigation in 2023.
Paul and Christine did not know who their owner was
In Rotherham, we met an elderly couple who lives in the same house rented in private for more than 50 years. It has wallpaper, damp walls, large black mold plates and an overwhelming smell of humidity.
When asked what effect it had, Christine Brown, 82, said to us: “Do you want the truth? I would just like to be dead. That’s how it did me.”
Christine and her husband Paul, 74, have a protected rental that maintains the low rent, at £ 440 per month. They did not know who their owner was. All communication was through a rental agent.
After a few excavations, Panorama discovered that the house belonged to a large real estate company, led by a billionaire family.
Christine suffers from asthma, angina of chest and bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (MPOC), a progressive pulmonary condition that she believes caused by the mold.
The owner of Sinead installed fans of extractors and provided dehumidifiers after complaining to the council
Exposure to mold can seriously affect people with mpoc or asthma because it can trigger an irritating response.
“Your airways are getting closer, you start to cough,” said the president of the Royal College of GPS, Kamila Hawthorne. “There is more chance that you picked up an infection and you are more likely to need antibiotics and / or steroids – and maybe even admission to the hospital.”
More than 26,000 babies and toddlers were admitted to hospital last year with pulmonary conditions probably linked to exposure to humidity and mold, revealed the panorama of NHS data in England.
After the death of Awaab Ishak, two years, in 2020, was directly linked to the exposure to molds, the then conservative government has drawn up a new law on its behalf to protect corporate tenants in England against living conditions dangerous. But the legislation must still come into force.
The government has announced that the law would be applied for wet and mold problems from October – and fully implemented for all other dangers by 2027. This year.
In the case of Awaab, his father Faisal had repeatedly raised the problem of mold with the association of the accommodation responsible for the apartment of Rochdale of the family, but no measure was taken.
Faisal is frustrated that the change has taken so long. “They should pass it out as soon as possible,” he said. “It will save a lot of lives.”
Sinead
Aziyah has already had a persistent cough for eight months
In Brighton, while Aziyah’s health has worsened, Sinead says that she was “really frightened” and “feared for her life”.
“He coughed and vomited,” she said, which shows that medical records led to dangerously low blood sugar.
At another time, he had a persistent cough for eight months. “He said,” Mom, how do you stop this cough? “And I said,” You can’t, Aziyah, “said Sinead.
After complaining to the Council – which is responsible for ensuring that the owners maintain housing standards – the owner has installed fans of extractors and provided dehumidifiers. But the mold remained.
In many cases, local authorities do not apply the legal obligations of private owners to maintain safe housing.
We asked all local authorities in England and Wales for the number of complaints they had received concerning the housing problems and the implementing measures they had taken. Over the past seven years, there have been more than 570,000 complaints (from 255 council responses, after 317 requests) on private households.
In more than 90% of cases, no measure has been taken and less than 1% of complaints led to the prosecution of an owner.
The councils face significant and historical challenges underway with resources, said the association of local governments that speaks for the authorities in England and Wales. “The problems can be solved without the need for inspection, application and prosecution being a last resort when all other options fail,” he adds.
Over the past 10 years, the funding of the Council in England has dropped by 10% in real terms, according to the National Audit Office.
“There is a perfect storm that occurs now, some of which are really stretched funding, some of which are around the age of houses,” said Richard Blakeway, the Mediator of England.
In England alone, more than three million corporate tenants live in properties that do not meet the decent standard of decent houses, according to a government investigation.
The houses are either in a state of dilapidation, do not have modern kitchen and bathroom, or lack of adequate heating and insulation.
“I’m tired of seeing him like that,” says Christine
When Christine shows us around her private house in Maltby, Rotherham, there are visible problems with humidity in each room.
“I’m tired of seeing him like that. My house was never like that. When I was younger and I worked, I could do it (repair the house) myself,” she said . “We cannot do it now.”
The couple said that they first informed their management agent, Savills, about the 2022 problems.
Savills says that he has authorized work for the house, including the fact that the roof resurfaced in 2023 – but water still enters, including neighboring property, and many other problems remain.
The BBC Panorama wanted to know who was finally responsible for the state of the house.
It is up to a company called Area Estates Ltd, which the companies House Rosscs show that is part of the William Pears group. Two of the three brothers who are directors of the group live in some of the most expensive postal codes in London.
One of them, Mark Pears, is also on the rich list of Sunday 2024, with an estimated family wealth of more than 3 billion pounds sterling. He is also administrator of the British Museum. His brother and colleague director Sir Trevor Pears was knight in 2017 for his charity work.
The areas of the region have told us that he had authorized professional management agents “to deal with ownership (Rotherham) in accordance with all regulations” and to “perform daily maintenance”, and that requests for repairs More expensive have always been answered quickly.
“Management agents will reinstall the room shortly and take care of any repair problem found which are the responsibility of the owner,” he added.
Manager Savills said he was “very sorry to learn that Ms. Brown thinks that complaints have been ignored”. He said he had always tried to solve any timely problem – and had done 13 different inspection and repair works on the property between 2023 and 2024.
When the BBC Panorama spoke to the couple of their owner’s identity, Christine said: “I would shake her hand and I would say:” Please make my house safe “.”
Sinead
Aziyah was referred to a lung specialist
In the case of Sinead, while the agents of the Environmental Health Council said there were problems, they concluded that the apartment was safe. She then obtained legal aid to pay an independent inspection. He said the apartment was “unfit for human housing”.
Sinead also asked for social housing, subjecting evidence to the health of Aziyah. But the council said that he had not had “frequent visits to a & e with admissions to the hospital and a complex treatment”.
The Brighton and Hove municipal council affirms that the problems he has the legal power to apply in Sinead’s apartment has now been discussed by the private owner. He indicates that he has also recommended improvements in “ventilation and insulation” that it “can encourage but cannot apply”.
The owner of Sinead accepts that “there is a condensation problem” but says that continuous problems are “due to negligence” by its non-cleaning of condensation.
Keeping a coherent temperature and ventilation can help prevent mold growth – but that will not solve the problem if the defects with the building mean that there is poor ventilation or wet.
Meanwhile, although the apartment was cleaned and repainted last summer, the mold returns.
Aziyah cough has still not disappeared and has been referred to a lung specialist.
“It is my son who makes me move forward,” explains Sinead. “If I don’t fight, then who will fight for him?”
