While tenants suffered and a family grieved, housing association bosses raked in huge pay rises

Bosses at the housing association responsible for a Rochdale estate plagued with damp and mould have enjoyed 'obscene' pay rises while families have been complaining about conditions. Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) hit out at 'historic under investment' in the sector when a Manchester Evening News investigation exposed the conditions tenants had been living in on the Freehold estate.

It is the same estate where Awaab Ishak had been living before his death aged just two in December 2020 - with a post-mortem linking the tragedy with the damp and mould at his home, Rochdale Coroners Court heard earlier this year. But while families have been battling stubborn damp and mould and Awaab's loved ones have been grieving, RBH executives have enjoyed handsome pay hikes.

In the same financial year as Awaab's death, five members of RBH's senior management team received total pay packages of more than £100,000, including salary and pension contributions. Four of those executives remain at RBH and benefitted from another pay hike the following financial year - coming into effect less than five months after Awaab's death.

READ MORE: "No one should have to live like this" - Anger and sorrow after the death of Rochdale estate toddler Awaab Ishak

The post-mortem linking Awaab's death to the damp and mould at his home was made public at a pre-inquest review in June this year, with pathologist Dr Philip Lumb listing Awaab's cause of death as acute airway edema and severe granulosis bronchitis due to environmental lung exposure.

The pay increases for RBH executives took place prior to that hearing. But Awaab's family had already complained about the conditions in their flat before he was born in 2018 - while other families the