The family of Awaab Ishak who was killed by mould in his own home were subject to “clear racism” from their landlord, a charity boss has said. Mr Jabeer Butt, chief executive of the Race Equality Foundation, said a report from the Housing Ombudsman for England showed racist attitudes towards the toddler’s family “blamed” them for the mould in their flat.

The report found that Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) often dismissed tenants and even accused them of causing the damp conditions in their own homes through “ritual practices”.

Richard Blakeway’s damning investigation concluded that RBH tenants were judged by “by staff members’ prejudices, lazy assumptions and an attitude towards asylum seekers and refugees that is wholly unacceptable”.

Awaab Ishak was just two-years-old when he died in December 2020 from a respiratory condition found to be caused by exposure to mould. His family had made multiple complaints about the damp and mould in their home but the problem was never resolved.

Mr Blakeway’s report found that Awaab’s parents, who had come to the UK from Sudan, had accused their landlord of racism and “unfair treatment” towards refugees and asylum seekers.

He said “assumptions” were made about the family based on their “ethnic similarities” to other people staff had encountered.

Mr Jabeer Butt, chief executive of the Race Equality Foundation, said the ombudsman’s report highlighted “clear racism” towards Awaab Ishak’s family.

He said while he was certain the issues affecting Awaab Ishak’s family will be felt in many communities, it was clear racism had played a part in their case in terms of the response they received.

He said: “It’s quite clear that there’s been racism in the response to Awaab Ishak’s family and others like his family for this housing association’s tenants.

“From things that have been said, blaming them (the families) for the damp, blaming them for the way they bathed and so on, it’s clear that racism has played a part in that.”

Mr Butt said the findings of the report were all the more disturbing because of the time it had taken and the reasons it had taken for it to come about.

He said: “It’s deeply shocking the detail that’s emerged from this report, but what I would add is why has it taken so long for an investigation like this to take place?

“This kind of enquiry should have happened some time ago and it’s depressing that it’s someone’s death that has brought it about, because these problems have been highlighted for some time.”

“There’s clearly been issues with Rochdale Boroughwide before, but it’s been Awaab Ishak’s death that’s brought about this level of scrutiny, when really we should have had this level of scrutiny before.”

Mr Butt said there were “undoubtedly” still young children and families living in dangerous and unhealthy conditions despite the findings of this latest report.

He said: “There are similar circumstances all over the country where what was formerly social housing is now in the private rented sector and it is not being maintained and is not being kept well.

“I fear that while we’ve got this spotlight on social housing these problems may be the case further afield as well.

“It’s clear that there is poor housing across the board and our failure to regulate and inspect it properly has created situations that we’d seen the back of from about 40 years ago.”

The ombudsman Mr Blakeway said a survey of the estate since Awaab Ishak’s death had found 80 percent of homes had damp and mould, with 12 of the 380 properties ranking as category one hazards, meaning they could cause complications leading to death.

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Mr Blakeway found that when Awaab Ishak’s family reported the mould issues the landlord focused on the way Awaab’s parents were using their home under the assumption they were “boiling food in pans” rather than considering the problem of mould itself.

He said: “This assumption was based entirely on a member of staff’s previous, irrelevant, interactions with other people in the same block of flats.

“There is no evidence that the family discussed their religious beliefs with the landlord or that member of staff, and this assumption appears to have been based entirely on the presence of a bucket, some water damage to the bath panel and that Awaab’s family had ethnic similarities to the other people the member of staff had encountered.”

Blakely identified ten cases of mismanagement and ordered the landlord to apologise to five residents and pay more than £8,000 in compensation.

Yvonne Arrowsmith, interim chief executive of RBH, said the findings were sobering, but not unexpected. She said: “Too often damp and mould was not seen as a serious issue and was often wrongly attributed to a resident’s lifestyle.

“Our residents have the right to be treated with respect and listened to and too often this didn’t happen. We are putting this right.”

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