Debate contribution: Housing: Disrepair, Damp and Mould

Debate contribution by Ms Kellie Armstrong on 24 February 2026.

MLA

Ms Kellie Armstrong

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

24 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Housing: Disrepair, Damp and Mould

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5404731

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank Gerry Carroll for tabling the motion. We are debating it today because far too many people in Northern Ireland are living in homes that are simply not safe. The evidence is overwhelming and very troubling. On 15 November 2023, I tabled a motion in the House asking for Awaab's law to be brought in here, and we are talking about it again today. Across social housing, private rentals and even owner-occupied homes, damp, mould and disrepair are not isolated problems. They are systemic failures that are harming citizens' health, dignity and life chances. The Department for Communities guidance makes the situation starkly clear. It states that damp and mould are some of the most common problems in housing and that they can lead to residents having:

"respiratory problems, allergies, asthma, and other conditions that impact on their immune system."

It is not abstract. Those are harms that are being experienced by families across every constituency. We know the scale of the problem. We have evidence, and Mr Durkan said earlier that the Housing Executive has received more than 14,000 reports of damp, mould and condensation since the start of the mandate in 2022. In the past four years of the current mandate, the number of reports has doubled. Those are not minor numbers. They are huge numbers, and they are symptoms of a housing system under severe strain and of tenants who are bearing the burden of homes that should be of a far better standard. It is not confined to social housing. I am glad that Mr Carroll included private and social housing in his motion. Renters' Voice survey shows that 62% of tenants delayed reporting repairs for fear of eviction, and over half said that they did not report issues at all. One tenant said that they had lived with no heat in their home for at least eight years because asking for repairs would trigger a rent increase. Another was evicted after reporting raw sewage in their garden. That is the lived reality of retaliatory eviction.

Mrs Cameron mentioned reporting damp and mould to environmental health, but people cannot do that if their landlord will throw them out as a result.

After there not being enough houses to meet need, the biggest issue raised in my constituency office is the amount of damp and mould in homes. One constituent, who lived in a Housing Executive house, regularly had to take a shovel to her bedroom wall to scrape off the mould. Damp and mould disproportionately affects the most vulnerable people in our society. The guidance highlights the fact that babies, older people and those with respiratory conditions are at heightened risk, and the mental health impacts of living in such a situation are profound. A home that has mould or damp staining can lead to depression and anxiety for people. Families feel shame, isolation and helplessness from living in conditions that no one in Northern Ireland should be forced to endure. We cannot ignore the lessons from the tragic death of Awaab Ishak. The coroner's report warned:

"updated information regarding the current health risks relating to damp and mould are not widely available or known to the housing sector."

It also highlighted a dangerous culture of blaming tenants' lifestyles rather than addressing structural failings. That culture exists here as well, and it must end. For example, how many times have we heard that damp and mould is caused by somebody drying clothes over a radiator or not having opened the windows enough, when we do not even test the mould to determine how dangerous it is? Other jurisdictions have acted. England introduced Awaab's law in 2025, while Scotland has legislation to implement similar protections from March 2026. Meanwhile, here in Northern Ireland, we still have no equivalent statutory duty to require landlords, be they social or private, to investigate and fix dangerous hazards within fixed time frames. Our Housing Fitness Standard dates back to 1992. Even then, it stated that homes should be:

"free from dampness prejudicial to the health of the occupants".

Without enforcement powers, timelines or accountability, however, our standard is not protecting people, so why not replicate Awaab's law here? I do not agree with the DUP amendment, because it talks only about reflecting the principles of Awaab's law here. Why not just make it law here so that it can protect people?

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I look forward to hearing from the Minister about that, but I cannot answer for him. We need to look proactively at the way in which we are dealing with housing. We need some sort of retrofitting plan to be put in place. The Department for the Economy's foresight report emphasises that decarbonisation and energy efficiency are essential, not only for meeting climate targets but for health. Cold and poorly insulated homes trap moisture, worsen the condition of the house and drive fuel poverty. We will hear today from many Members who have had constituents come to their offices to talk about the impact of damp and mould, so I hope that everyone in the House will respond to the Minister's current consultation on the Decent Homes Standard. I have said that I cannot support the DUP amendment, because it calls on the Minister only to reflect the principles of Awaab's law here. I look forward, however, to hearing from the Minister about his potential housing Bill. Will it include minimum standards across all tenures?

Will the Housing Executive continue to be allowed to mark its own homework?

926 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:03 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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