Thirteen children have died in falls from windows in their rented or temporary accommodation since 2019 in England, according to a shock new NHS-funded study.
The National Child Mortality Database says such deaths are “entirely preventable”.
All were aged under 11 just like tragic Aalim Makial Jibril, five, who fell 150ft from a kitchen window at Jacobs House in Plaistow, east London in May last year.
Alam’s family said they complained to Newham Council about windows at the 15th floor flat which could be opened to their full extension by pressing a button on the inside. The authority launched an investigation and an inquest is due to be held.
In May, a two-year-old boy died after falling from height at an HMO used for emergency housing on Wynell Road, Forest Hill, near Lewisham.
The NCMD found in four fatalities between April 2019 and the end of May there were no locks or restrictors which limit how far a window can open.
In eight other cases the safety mechanism was present but broken, not in use or had been disabled.
Authors identified a theme of families reporting faulty windows, sometimes on multiple occasions. It urged landlords to prioritise repairs.
A spokesman said: “We must act now to make homes safer for children.”
The watchdog found a mother unable to close some of her windows properly for four years, one coming loose from its frame in a baby’s room and residents using duct tape to hold them together.
One-year-old Exodus Eyob fell to his death from the seventh floor of a Leeds tower block in July 2022. An inquest heard the restrictor on the window had been disengaged because it was a hot day.
BBC News spoke to residents of Lancaster Court Estate in Fulham, west London.
Tracey McGurk, who has lived in her flat for five years and is worried for her grandchildren's safety, said her windows are a “death trap”.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council sent a survey team and found six urgent repairs required.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in England said “no child’s life should be at risk because of poor quality housing, and we are determined to prevent future tragedies”.
