The housing association that failed to treat mould and damp in Awaab Ishak's home will be stripped of £1m new government funding, Michael Gove has announced.
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) has come under intense criticism following the toddler's tragic death, which was found to have been a direct result of prolonged exposure to mould.
Coroner, Joanne Kearsley ruled last week that RBH, which owns and manages the Freehold estate where Awaab lived, should have carried out repairs on the property when it knew about mould.
READ MORE: Housing association admits making 'assumptions' about Awaab's family
The housing association's Chief Executive, Gareth Swarbrick has since been sacked, after facing mounting pressure for him to resign.
Housing Secretary, Michael Gove, has now announced that RBH will be stripped of any new government funding until it can 'prove it is a responsible landlord.'
The housing group will not be awarded its expected £1m funding from the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) between 2021 and 2026, or receive any new contracts for new homes until the Regulator of Social Housing has concluded its investigation, Mr Gove revealed.
RBH was allocated £4.7m from the previous AHP between 2016-2021. One active site is still being built out of which the government will not stall progress.
Close monitoring of RBH tenancies will continue to be undertaken by the government, who will work with the Regulator and Ombudsman to ensure tenants have appropriate housing.
As part of a wider crackdown on poor standards, the Housing Secretary will also block any housing provider that breaches the Regulator’s consumer standards from new AHP funding until they make improvements. Michael Gove will also consider stripping providers of existing AHP funding, unless construction has already started on site.
The move comes after Michael Gove wrote to all councils and housing associations this weekend, saying they must raise the bar dramatically on standards and demanding urgent action where people complain about damp and mould.
Mr Gove also announced he would be awarding a share of £14m to seven areas with high numbers of poor privately rented homes to crack down on rouge landlords.
Greater Manchester, including Rochdale and surrounding councils will be given £2.3m to increase the use of fines where a landlord is found to have committed an offence.
A sum of £678k will be awarded to Leeds to use behavioural science to change culture among landlords, improving knowledge and skills and £1.14m for Cornwall to create a database of private rented accommodation in the area and record standards to target better enforcement action.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove said: "RBH failed its tenants so it will not receive a penny of additional taxpayers’ money for new housing until it gets its act together and does right by tenants.
"Let this be a warning to other housing providers who are ignoring complaints and failing in their obligations to tenants. We will not hesitate to act.
"Everyone deserves the right to live in safe, decent home and this Government will always act to protect tenants."
The M.E.N has teamed up with housing charity, Shelter, to launch a petition calling for Awaab's Law, which as of 6pm on Wednesday- November 23 - more than 119,736 people have signed.
The law would require landlords to investigate the causes of damp and mould within 14 days of complaints being made and provide tenants with a report on the findings.
The Social Housing Regulation Bill is currently going through Parliament and if approved, would bring back regulation on consumer standards for social housing.
But our call for Awaab's Law would strengthen it, by including Ofsted-style inspections at short notice and increased professionalisation of housing management to improve the experience of tenants, including those living with damp and mould.
An RBH spokesperson said: "We are looking forward to our conversation with Michael Gove to look at how we can work together to improve the quality of homes in Rochdale.
"We have been engaging with the regulator on a regular basis to update them on the changes that we have put in place around damp and mould. We welcome the impartial scrutiny that the regulator will bring, and we are keen to work more closely with them.
"We understand all the issues that have been presented to us as a result of the coroner’s verdict and we have a plan in place which we are implementing to ensure that everyone living in an RBH home will have a safe and good quality home."
Read more of today's headlines here
READ NEXT:
- Floral tributes for tragic boy, 17, left at scene as murder probe continues
- Almost 1,000 people in Greater Manchester face Christmas Day being 'trapped' in hospital away from their families - and they don't need to be there
- People 'risking their lives' to get pictures of spectacular Christmas lights at Manchester restaurant
- "A child could be next": Labrador owner says 'dangerously out of control' dog mauled his pet
- England's WAGs through the years... from 1966 World Cup victory to Victoria Beckham
