How the death of toddler Awaab Ishak inspired the creation of AI app to tackle damp and mould

The tragic death of Rochdale toddler Awaab Ishak from damp and mould in his home put the spotlight on the state of social housing and even inspired a law in his name. Now it has inspired a new artificial intelligence (AI) app to make preventing damp and mould affordable and accessible.

Start-up claim.co.uk worked in partnership with the University of Salford to create a new smartphone app to identify damp and mould at its earliest stage.

The app uses the IntelOptic AI platform developed at the university to assess photos taken on a smartphone, which can analyse the image in just 1.5 seconds with up to 95% accuracy according to the university.

The app, which is available in the Google Play store and Apple’s App Store, allows users to upload images of suspected disrepair to receive a detailed analysis and recommendations and tips to prevent the issue.

Taha Mansouri, who worked with fellow University of Salford lecturer Ali Alameer in developing the core computer vision model for the app, told Big Issue that the death of Ishak demonstrated the need for an affordable way of dealing with damp and mould.

“We noticed that sensors are not affordable for all people,” said Mansouri. “If people have to buy something then it can be very expensive and when installing it in their home there can be some maintenance costs and provision costs.

“We started to work on something a bit more available and accessible for the public, which is using AI to identify if it is mould, dampness or something else like a stain.”

Damp and mould is a common problem in UK homes with one million households living with the issue in England – around 4% of the total number of households.

The issue is most prevalent in the private rented sector, where 10% of households are affected compared to 7% of local authority renters, 4% of housing association renters and 2% of owner occupiers.

While the case of Awaab Ishak uncovered institutional failings and racial inequality in social housing, the creators of IntelOptic said the app can give tenants the tools to take more action themselves.

A scientific paper detailing the AI technology used in IntelOptic, which trained on over 27,000 datasets, is currently pending publication.

The project saw University of Salford master’s student Aaron’s work on the AI platform under the guidance of Mansouri and Ali before joining claim.co.uk to develop the technology further.

Aaron at claim.co.uk said: “Our mission is to make legal guidance and the process of seeking compensation more accessible to everyone – regardless of their financial situation or background. We understand that navigating the legal system can be overwhelming and costly, which is why we created this app: to provide individuals with the tools they need to better manage their claims, whether it’s for housing disrepair, mis-sold financial products, or personal injury.”

Local councils, landlords and social housing providers can also benefit from the app as well as tenants, according to Mansouri.

Local authorities, in particular, are facing a greater need to take action if the Renters’ Rights Bill passes through parliament.

The bill will introduce a decent homes standard and extend Awaab’s Law to cover the private rented sector, requiring landlords to take urgent action to fix hazards in the homes they let.

Councils will also have a greater requirement and ability to take enforcement action at a time when local authorities are warning that the housing crisis is leaving them on the brink of bankruptcy.

The app can cut down on on-site inspections to allow councils to allocate resources more efficiently while taking early preventative action can avoid expensive fixes down the line, the university said.

Lecturer Mansouri added that, while there was added significance that a solution to damp and mould had been created in north-west England not far from where Ishak lost his life, he is hoping to see an impact across the UK.

“It’s a very impactful example of an academic collaboration with local businesses in particular with start-ups that had a brilliant idea,” said Mansouri.

“In the UK this is a common problem and people are suffering from it. It is a good idea if we can have accessible tools and techniques where we can identify it in the earliest stages because sending experts and doing some sort of investigations or surveying are very unaffordable for landlords and tenants.

“It can save a huge amount of money for local councils and social housing providers – they can deploy this application and take remedial action in the beginning stage.”

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