Plans to crackdown on “rogue” social housing landlords who fail to provide safe homes have been announced today as part of ‘Awaab’s Law’.
The plans are to be delivered as part of a ‘landmark’ new social housing bill – which was given the Royal Ascent to become law in July 2023 – named after Greater Manchester toddler Awaab Ishak, who tragically died as a result of prolonged exposure to mould in his Rochdale home, a coroner ruled back in 2022.
Following Awaab’s tragic death, the Government has been pledging to deliver the new law – but today is the first time concrete plans to do so have been unveiled.
Under the consultation for the proposed new plans – which has been launched today by Housing Secretary, Michael Gove – social housing providers would be bound to strict time limits that force them to take swift action in addressing dangerous hazards, such as damp and mould.
Our landmark #SocialHousing Regulation Act receives Royal Assent to become law today.
We are improving the quality of social homes across England and clamping down on rogue landlords through new enforcement powers.
— Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (@luhc) July 20, 2023
It proposes new legal requirements for social landlords to investigate hazards within 14 days, start fixing within a further seven days, and make emergency repairs within 24 hours.
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Landlords who fail can be taken to court, and may be ordered to pay compensation for tenants.
On top of this, all social housing landlords will be expected to keep clear records to improve transparency for tenants by showing every attempt is made to comply with the new timescales, so they can no longer “dither and delay” to rectify people’s homes.
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And if all of that didn’t sound promising enough as it is, through the measures announced today, tenants will also be able to take their landlords to court if they fail to fix dangerous hazards.
Mould in Awaab Ishak’s family home in Rochdale / Credit: GMP
The Government says this “builds on the progress already made to drive up social housing standards”.
Speaking as the proposals went out for consultation today, Housing Secretary Michael Gove commented: “The tragic death of Awaab Ishak should never have happened.
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“His family have shown courageous leadership, determination and dignity to champion these changes, and now it’s time for us to deliver for them through Awaab’s Law. Today is about stronger and more robust action against social landlords who have refused to take their basic responsibilities seriously for far too long.
“We will force them to fix their homes within strict new time limits and take immediate action to tackle dangerous damp and mould to help prevent future tragedies.”
Awaab’s father, Faisal Abdullah, added: “We hope that Awaab’s Law will stop any other family going through the pain that we went through.
“Landlords need to listen to the concerns of tenants, and we support these proposals.”
Featured Image – GMP / Family Handout
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Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Emily Sergeant -
9th January 2024 
