Legislation to tackle mould and damp in homes backed by Derry City & Strabane Council
Derry City and Strabane District Council will back a call for legislation to tackle mould and damp across the district’s social homes and private rentals.
During March’s Governance and Strategic Planning Committee meeting People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin welcomed the the recent passing of an Assembly motion by his colleague, Gerry Carroll MLA, calling on the Communities Minister, Gordon Lyons, to introduce legislation similar to Awaab’s law, which would “compel landlords to tackle damp, mould and disrepair in both social and rented accommodation”.
Councillor Harkin proposed that council write to Mr Lyons supporting Mr Carroll’s motion and asking that it is actioned within the current Stormont mandate.
He also highlighted recent news of a young family who live in a Housing Executive-owned, Bogside apartment with “really awful mould and damp”, which he described as “absolutely shocking”.
“The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) figures are somewhere close to 15,000 reports of damp and mould over the last year and that doesn’t include housing associations or private landlords,” he noted.
“My colleague, Gerry Carroll, [is] calling for the Minister to implement a version of Abwaab’s Law here in the North; Abwaab was a two-year-old who died because of damp and mould creating very serious respiratory problems for him.
“It was an absolute tragedy and spotlighted the issue of damp and mould in housing across England and Britain, and there’s no legislation here to begin to address this.”
Sinn Féin councillor Christopher Jackson seconded the proposal and agreed that mould and damp were a “major concern” throughout the district, while DUP alderman Keith Kerrigan, who sits on the NIHE board, said NIHE met with Minister Lyons last Wednesday (February 25) and he is “keen to push this legislation through”.
Alderman Kerrigan concluded: “This is on the radar so I have no issue with a letter coming from council to support it and to seek this implementation, but it is something which the Minister is working [on], particularly with the Housing Executive.
“He is well aware of it and will be pushing forward, and we trust that we’ll have the support for the legislation when it does come at Stormont.”