Contesting dispossession by damp: Life experiences and media representations in London Housing Association estates

Household damp and mould are problems of growing prominence in
Britain, often with severe and life limiting implications for those who
endure them. Treating those whose health has been impacted by poor
housing conditions is estimated to cost the NHS £1.4 billion annually
(Garret et al, 2021). In November 2022 it became public knowledge
that Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old living in social housing provided by
housing association Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, had died in 2020
due to the poor conditions he lived in. Against a present backdrop of
rising energy prices and levels of fuel poverty, the issue of household dampness is
unlikely to be resolved.

This research proposes a dual examination of the phenomena of
dampness in Housing Association (HA) estates in London - that is,
both into the material conditions in damp housing, and the media
representation of those conditions - in order to critically question how
damp housing conditions dispossess the urban poor. Using a mixed
methods approach with an embodied focus, this research aims to
provide new insights into household damp in Housing Association
stock undergoing regeneration, and a critical assessment of the
relationship media coverage has to tenants' experiences of
(contesting) these conditions. It envisions a public life for its findings
and outputs, both developing tools for use 'on the ground' within
affected communities through participatory methods, and producing
policy recommendations and briefings.