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Britain’s Housing Ombudsman has called for property inspections to assess the presence of lead after a Financial Times investigation highlighted the effects of toxic metals on human health.
Richard Blakeway warned in an interview that lead was “undetectable” in homes and needed to be treated as seriously as the risks posed to humans by asbestos, mold and damp.
Mr Blakeway told the Financial Times: “We know it’s risky and what[the FT]has pointed out is a flaw in the testing. So a pilot study to test and sample properties. It would be wise to do so.” “Lead, like all other hazards, is relevant and may be overlooked.”
Any research will need to be facilitated and carried out by the UK Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
Britain has some of the world’s oldest houses, and many still contain lead paint. When lead paint flakes or scrapes off walls, windows, and door frames, it produces toxic dust that can be harmful if ingested.
Many homes in the UK still use lead paint, which was banned in 1992 © Dominic Lipinski/Bloomberg
In 2004, lead was identified by the UK’s Home Health and Safety Rating System, the government’s way of rating residential properties, as a class II risk that can cause “serious harm outcomes”.
Government guidance says that before it was banned in 1992, lead paint in the UK could contain up to 50 per cent lead by weight and that “a small child could swallow just one flake.” “Just ingesting it can cause lead poisoning.” Published in October.
Although lead pipes have been banned since the 1970s, millions of homes still have outdated plumbing that can contaminate water.
Experts have warned that a lack of regular testing of children and the housing stock means that hundreds of thousands of children are likely suffering the effects of lead poisoning. .
Peeling lead paint from galvanized steel pipe © Anna Chaplygina/Dreamstime
Mr Blakeway, whose role is to investigate complaints from social housing tenants who rent their homes from local councils and housing associations, said better data was needed to understand the scale of the problem in the UK. .
“If you look at a landlord’s policies and processes, there may not be a danger. Too often, inspections are conducted only after a health issue is reported,” he said.
“Indeed, our experience with damp and mold has been that we have seen very few cases because awareness has been low or it has not been taken seriously enough,” said the public sector-backed Housing Ombudsman Service. added Mr. Blakeway, who is in charge of the. By MHCLG, 2019 onwards. “Things have changed because consciousness has changed.”
In the United States, the national American Housing Survey collects data on housing conditions and measures hazardous levels, including lead. In 2021, the U.S. government’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program celebrates its 30th anniversary.
UK experts are calling for amendments to the Tenancy Reform Bill currently going through Parliament to include lead hazards and risk assessments in homebuyer surveys.
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Mr Blakeway said: “There is a degree of satisfaction in the response to the danger and I am surprised at how much of a disconnect there is between what the law expects and what is actually practiced.”
“I think the intent[of the law]is that regular home inspections should include lead, but that’s not being done. It remains undetected,” he added.
The Ministry of Housing said: “Clearly landlords must ensure that their homes are free of dangerous health and safety hazards, including dangerously high levels of lead.”
Referring to Awab’s Law, named after two-year-old Awab Ishaq, who died in 2020 after being exposed to mold for a long time in a social home, the ministry added: Because the home is unsafe, the landlord must address the hazards in the home within a certain period of time or face legal action from the tenant. ”
