Judi Love reveals her son was hospitalised due to damp housing

Judi Love says her son was once hospitalised due to damp conditions in their council house.

The Loose Women panellist says the recent death of 2-year-old Awaab Ishak due to mould exposure at his home in Rochdale led her to open up about how her son also went into hospital due to mould in their social housing before she became famous.

In her OK Magazine column, Love explained: "Awaab’s death makes me so emotional because it takes me back to a time when I was living in social housing, fighting my housing company due to the damp that was taking over my home.

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"My son ended up in intensive care because of similar breathing complications."

She added: "No one should be forced to live in such conditions. I feel that both class and race are major factors in why Awaab’s family were not listened to when they asked for help. I sincerely hope that they are served justice of some kind."

The results of an inquest into Ishak's death revealed that the 2-year-old died from a respiratory condition caused by mold in the housing association flat he lived in with his parents in Rochdale.

Gareth Swarbrick, the chief executive of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, was removed from his position on Saturday.

Michael Gove has since called on local authorities to "raise the bar dramatically" when it comes to the quality of social housing across the UK.

Gove also said that their should be frequest checks for mold and damp across local authority properties.

Read more: Shocking photos show mould-covered home where 2-year-old died

In a letter to providers across the country, he said: "I want to be clear about what this must mean in relation to damp and mould, as I have been made aware of many cases where this has gone unaddressed for far too long and am concerned that they are not treated with sufficient seriousness.

"Where people complain about damp and mould, you must listen; where you find them, you must take prompt action. To keep tenants safe, you must not hide behind legal process."

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