Awaabs law is a start but England needs whole new approach to ensure healthy homes for all [Video]

In 2020 a coroner’s court in Rochdale found that two-year-old Awaab Ishak had died as a result of living in a mould-infested home. New housing standards, devised as part of the social housing regulation bill in response to this tragedy, are now set to come into force in England.

From April 1 2024, all social housing providers in England will have to ensure their tenants’ safety by keeping apprised of the conditions of the homes they let and the needs of the people they house. They will have to listen to complaints and respond within strict time frames, particularly, under the section dubbed “Awaab’s law”, to problems of mould and damp.

This will improve the lives of thousands living in social housing. However, like many reactive policies, it only addresses one part of a much wider problem. Elsewhere in the housing and planning system, the government is cutting regulations to speed up house building, a process that the Labour party wants to …