Mayor pledges ‘right to property check’ after Awaab Ishak scandal

All Greater Manchester residents will have ‘the right to request a home safety check’ following the Awaab Ishak scandal, the Mayor has said.

Andy Burnham said the right will come in if he is re-elected in May, and suggested the checks could be carried out under existing ‘safe and well’ powers held by the fire service playing a ‘big role’, plus other agencies. 

“No one in this city-region should be in a home that damages their health, and certainly not put their life at risk,” Mr Burnham told a press conference called to reveal the findings of the latest inspection into Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS).

“If re-elected I will bring in, in Greater Manchester, a new right for our residents,” he added.

“And that new right is the ability to request a property check - a home safety check - because I am not prepared anymore to allow some landlords to put the health and safety of people at risk.

“We know sadly in the private rented sector - it’s hard to put a precise number on it - but it could be as high as 40 percent of homes are beneath the decent homes standard.

"But we also know there are issues in the social rented sector as well, because Awaab Ishak was in a socially-rented home.”

Awaab Ishak was a toddler in neighbouring Rochdale who died just days after his second birthday after being exposed to mould in his home, a Rochdale Boroughwide Housing association property.

In the wake of the tragedy, a campaign for Awaab’s Law - which sets new legal duties for landlords to address hazards like damp and mould in social homes within a fixed time period - was successful.

The Labour Mayor, who is standing for a third term on May 2, said he was in discussions with his deputy, Kate Green, over how it could be included in the Mayor’s Fire Plan for 2025-29.

But he added that the issue is ‘something we will really get after’.

Mr Burnham continued: “This new right for me is really important because it’s about empowering people that feel they’re trapped in dangerous circumstances. 

“That’s what this is about - giving them something back that they may not feel like they have, [in that] they may feel they cannot speak out against a landlord who is not responding to requests to maintain their property properly, and their kids are being put at risk by that landlord.

"That’s just not acceptable.

“I am just not having that anymore.

"It shouldn’t have ever been allowed.

"But it’s something we will really get after.”

Overall, the Inspectors report found that GMFRS was now rated ‘good’ in 10 out of 11 areas, with the remaining one being ‘adequate’.

Speaking at the same event, Chief Fire Officer Dave Russel believed that changes made since the inspection took place would mean the service was rated ‘good’ in every category if assessed today.

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