help families suffering in poor living conditions
The Issue
- Most of us have heard about the media attention surrounding little Awaab Ishak, from Rochdale, England. Awaab died at the tender age of two, after living in a mouldy and poorly ventilated home, which lead to him suffering heart failure. The story, for me, truly hit home; In case you haven't heard about it, I have linked his story at the bottom of this page.
I am very glad to hear Awaab's family are being listened to and this devastating tragedy is finally getting the recognition it deserves. This is why I have made the decision to do my own petition, in the hope that, my voice and other people who are in similar situations voices, can be heard too.
It baffles me as to why landlords and certain housing associations keep getting away with letting their properties fall into such abhorrent conditions.
To say that my own experience is a bad one would be an understatement. Similar to Awaab and his family, we also have a mould and damp problem with poor ventilation. My landlords suggestion is to "open the windows", which I find incredibly short-sighted given that I have young children, my youngest being only five months old. In these winter months, this is not a reasonable method to take and given the recent rise in energy prices, it is not a viable option for myself and my family.
In addition to the mould, the property only consists of storage heating and still has the old 'Dimplex' style heaters in every bedroom, which are far to expensive to run. My landlord likes to make it known to people of authority that the storage heating in my property are "new high retention heaters, which are the cheapest to run at off peak times so keep them on during these times, and in doing so, they can be switched off in the morning and the the property will be warm throughout the day. He also informs me that turning the immersion on for hot water during these same "off peak times", will give out hot water throughout the day, rather than having to "boost" it for an hour so just my children can have a bath or we can do the dishes without boiling the kettle.
Before going to bed one, night, I turned everything off at the mains apart from these "high retention heaters" and my water immersion. In just under 9 hours, we had gone through over £15 in electric. In hindsight, we had just wasted all that money because the property was only 12 degrees in my living area, kitchen and front door entrance area (whilst heaters are on) due to the windows and doors being old, aluminium styled, which I am sure they do not make anymore as they are around 25 years old. My downstairs areas were down to 7 degrees just a short while after turning the heaters off and it continued to drop. This resulted in myself and my baby daughter having to stay in bed all day, with housecoats and woolly hats on, which is a recurring thing for us. From 30th November - 19th December, I have put £317 in my meter. I can no longer turn my heating on as I cannot afford this.
It is a fact that the only thing that will solve all the problems mentioned above is installing new windows and doors, which my landlord refuses to do as this involves putting their hands in their pockets and they have been told they are not obligated to do so, so where does that leave us?
My landlords then had the audacity to email me, quote "In terms of your tenancy agreement, YOU may be damaging the property, as well as exposing YOURSELF and your family to a potential health hazard" and "the consequences of you withholding any rental payments could put your ongoing tenancy as seriously effected".
I feel this is totally unacceptable, especially at the moment, during the current living crisis, with a five month old baby who wakens up freezing every morning.
Why the environmental health team for Dundee City Council are in agreement that not only this, but the mould and damp within the property, is of a "tolerable standard", is beyond me. A surveyor, also from the same council, carried out an inspection only two weeks ago and I was told it would be taken seriously and the only reply I got was to tell me how to clean my windows, save on energy bills and funding I may be entitled to. I already know this and it still does not solve anything.
I am deeply concerned about my families health; my eldest son suffers from regular chest infections and we are waiting on a referral for the asthma clinic for him. I myself, have been put on an inhaler, something have never had to use, and I am waiting on my results of a recent chest X-Ray my GP referred me to. The way me and my family are being treated is an utter disgrace, leaving me with anxiety and depression, including feeling suicidal. We are at the end of our tether. I have had a lot of messages of support through social media and so many kind hearted people just wanting to help us, which keeps me going.
A lot of people that contacted me were going through the same issues and it is a bigger problem than I initially thought. So many going through the same and do not know where to turn. Landlords SHOULD BE MADE to invest in their properties for the benefit of their tenants and their families.
To make this happen, I would like The Housing and Property Chamber, Scotland, and Shona Robison, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, to bring together families affected by poor living conditions and housing policy experts and politicians to look into this further. People with mould and damp issues, who are freezing to death in the property they pay rent for, should not have to live like this. I would also like Dundee Evening Telegraph to contact me so I can share my story in my local newspaper to show the impact this is having on people and that they are not alone. My family are looking for people to support us in this case, FORCING landlords to help their tenants who live in these conditions and stop them getting away with this. Enough is Enough. Please sign this petition to have our voices heard.
I am doing this, not only for my family, but for other families across Scotland, going through the same, to get the help we deserve without being made to feel its our own fault. Things NEED to change before another person becomes seriously ill or, like little Awaab, another child looses their life.
Awaab Ishak's Story - https://www.change.org/p/awaab-s-law-to-prevent-any-more-children-dying-from-damp-and-mouldy-social-housing/u/31112581
1,311
The Issue
- Most of us have heard about the media attention surrounding little Awaab Ishak, from Rochdale, England. Awaab died at the tender age of two, after living in a mouldy and poorly ventilated home, which lead to him suffering heart failure. The story, for me, truly hit home; In case you haven't heard about it, I have linked his story at the bottom of this page.
I am very glad to hear Awaab's family are being listened to and this devastating tragedy is finally getting the recognition it deserves. This is why I have made the decision to do my own petition, in the hope that, my voice and other people who are in similar situations voices, can be heard too.
It baffles me as to why landlords and certain housing associations keep getting away with letting their properties fall into such abhorrent conditions.
To say that my own experience is a bad one would be an understatement. Similar to Awaab and his family, we also have a mould and damp problem with poor ventilation. My landlords suggestion is to "open the windows", which I find incredibly short-sighted given that I have young children, my youngest being only five months old. In these winter months, this is not a reasonable method to take and given the recent rise in energy prices, it is not a viable option for myself and my family.
In addition to the mould, the property only consists of storage heating and still has the old 'Dimplex' style heaters in every bedroom, which are far to expensive to run. My landlord likes to make it known to people of authority that the storage heating in my property are "new high retention heaters, which are the cheapest to run at off peak times so keep them on during these times, and in doing so, they can be switched off in the morning and the the property will be warm throughout the day. He also informs me that turning the immersion on for hot water during these same "off peak times", will give out hot water throughout the day, rather than having to "boost" it for an hour so just my children can have a bath or we can do the dishes without boiling the kettle.
Before going to bed one, night, I turned everything off at the mains apart from these "high retention heaters" and my water immersion. In just under 9 hours, we had gone through over £15 in electric. In hindsight, we had just wasted all that money because the property was only 12 degrees in my living area, kitchen and front door entrance area (whilst heaters are on) due to the windows and doors being old, aluminium styled, which I am sure they do not make anymore as they are around 25 years old. My downstairs areas were down to 7 degrees just a short while after turning the heaters off and it continued to drop. This resulted in myself and my baby daughter having to stay in bed all day, with housecoats and woolly hats on, which is a recurring thing for us. From 30th November - 19th December, I have put £317 in my meter. I can no longer turn my heating on as I cannot afford this.
It is a fact that the only thing that will solve all the problems mentioned above is installing new windows and doors, which my landlord refuses to do as this involves putting their hands in their pockets and they have been told they are not obligated to do so, so where does that leave us?
My landlords then had the audacity to email me, quote "In terms of your tenancy agreement, YOU may be damaging the property, as well as exposing YOURSELF and your family to a potential health hazard" and "the consequences of you withholding any rental payments could put your ongoing tenancy as seriously effected".
I feel this is totally unacceptable, especially at the moment, during the current living crisis, with a five month old baby who wakens up freezing every morning.
Why the environmental health team for Dundee City Council are in agreement that not only this, but the mould and damp within the property, is of a "tolerable standard", is beyond me. A surveyor, also from the same council, carried out an inspection only two weeks ago and I was told it would be taken seriously and the only reply I got was to tell me how to clean my windows, save on energy bills and funding I may be entitled to. I already know this and it still does not solve anything.
I am deeply concerned about my families health; my eldest son suffers from regular chest infections and we are waiting on a referral for the asthma clinic for him. I myself, have been put on an inhaler, something have never had to use, and I am waiting on my results of a recent chest X-Ray my GP referred me to. The way me and my family are being treated is an utter disgrace, leaving me with anxiety and depression, including feeling suicidal. We are at the end of our tether. I have had a lot of messages of support through social media and so many kind hearted people just wanting to help us, which keeps me going.
A lot of people that contacted me were going through the same issues and it is a bigger problem than I initially thought. So many going through the same and do not know where to turn. Landlords SHOULD BE MADE to invest in their properties for the benefit of their tenants and their families.
To make this happen, I would like The Housing and Property Chamber, Scotland, and Shona Robison, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, to bring together families affected by poor living conditions and housing policy experts and politicians to look into this further. People with mould and damp issues, who are freezing to death in the property they pay rent for, should not have to live like this. I would also like Dundee Evening Telegraph to contact me so I can share my story in my local newspaper to show the impact this is having on people and that they are not alone. My family are looking for people to support us in this case, FORCING landlords to help their tenants who live in these conditions and stop them getting away with this. Enough is Enough. Please sign this petition to have our voices heard.
I am doing this, not only for my family, but for other families across Scotland, going through the same, to get the help we deserve without being made to feel its our own fault. Things NEED to change before another person becomes seriously ill or, like little Awaab, another child looses their life.
Awaab Ishak's Story - https://www.change.org/p/awaab-s-law-to-prevent-any-more-children-dying-from-damp-and-mouldy-social-housing/u/31112581
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Petition created on 19 December 2022