Under chief executive Gareth Swarbrick, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) received multiple complaints about fungus from Awaab’s parents before he died of a respiratory condition in December 2020. An inquest ruled the toddler’s illness was caused by prolonged exposure to mold in the one-bedroom flat where he lived with his mother, Aisha Amin, and father, Faisal Abdhullah, in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Swarbrick, who earned £170,000 the year Awaab died, insisted he would not stand down as head of the housing association. He said in a statement: “I want to start by saying how sorry I am to Awaab’s family for their loss – no apology will ever be enough. “The debate surrounding my position has begun to overshadow the most important part of all of this, which is that a family lost their child. “Having spoken to the board, I can confirm that I will not be resigning. “They have given me their full support and trust to continue to oversee the improvements and changes needed at RBH.” Swarbrick said he had spoken to tier secretary Michael Gove to “discuss the issues we face in social housing”, adding that RBH had “made a number of changes” since Awaab’s death. He added: “We all have a duty to call out prejudice wherever we see it. “Equality is at the heart of what we do as a mutual housing society and we will continue to fight for greater inclusion and equality. “We agree with the coroner that Awaab’s tragic death will and should be a defining moment for the entire housing sector.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. RBH chair Alison Tumilty apologized to Awaab’s family and acknowledged the housing association had “let them down”, but said she had “full confidence” in Swarbrick’s leadership. He added: “Together, we will work to restore the trust of the people of Rochdale and show that we are a shared landlord who cares and cares deeply for our tenants.” It comes as the Housing Ombudsman announced it was speeding up three inquiries into RBH and Swarbrick into complaints from Awaab’s parents. The head of the investigative agency, Richard Blakeway, said he had been alerted to three “high or medium risk” complaints involving the owner and instructed his team to “accelerate these investigations”. Blakeway wrote to Swarbrick saying he would “welcome a meeting” with him to determine the approach his team would take. RBH said it had received the letter and would meet with Blakeway or a member of his team “at the earliest opportunity”.
