Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), has written to the leaders and chief executives of all local authorities in England with a "Direction" under section 3(3) of the Housing Act 2004.

The letter was sent in the wake of the tragic death of 2 year old Awaab Ishak as a "direct result" of mould in the housing association home where his family lived. The Housing Act direction means that all local authorities carrying out their legal duty to regularly review poor housing conditions in their areas: must have regard to high scoring category 2 (under HHSRS) mould and damp issues; provide DLUHC with an assessment of damp and mould issues in private rented sector (PRS) housing in their areas particularly regarding category 1 and 2 mould and damp hazards; and provide DLUHC with an assessment of action needed in relation to mould and damp issues in the PRS in their areas.

Furthermore, Mr Gove has directed that local authorities provide data from the last three 12 monthly reporting periods for PRS properties in their areas covering:

1. how many damp and mould issues have been remediated compared to the assessment of the prevalence of such issues;
2. how many times enforcement action has been taken to remedy such hazards and what form this enforcement action took;
3. how many civil penalty notices have been issued in relation to non-compliance with any enforcement action taken on damp and mould;
4. how many prosecutions have been successfully pursued relating to damp and mould in their areas.

If local authorities have not collected this information then the letter requires them to explain why they haven't collected it and it adds "Finally, I would like you to set out how you are prioritising enforcement of housing standards more generally in your authority, across all tenures, including what plans you have to ensure adequate enforcement capacity to drive up housing standards in the private rented sector".

Mr Gove wants the initial response from all the local authorities by the end of November and then a full response by 27th January 2023. He concludes the letter by thanking the council leaders and chief executives for "the important work that you do in your local areas to improve housing standards for tenants" and underlines that he wishes to work "collaboratively" with them to improve housing standards and that it is "vital" that everyone learns lessons from the tragic death of Awaab.

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