Thirteen children died after falling from windows in six years

According to a study in the ambience of very young and primary-school ages, thirteen children have died of windows in their rent or temporary residence in England since 2019.

Authors of the NHS-Finance National Child mortality Database (NCMD) say that such deaths are “fully prevented”. They say that landlords should fix defective windows and ensure that appropriate locks are applied.

Conclusions come as a second report, from England’s residence Watchdog, compared to the scale of window security defects in social housing. For issues known with moist and mold,

The BBC has visited families living in flats in Leeds and West London, saying they are “nervous” of young children falling from “unsafe” windows.

A pediatric advisor in Manchester has also told us that he has treated the “unusually high number” of children who fell from windows in recent months.

Most participate with “vital injuries”, she says, from broken bones – including skulls and jaws – for internal damage to organs such as liver.

The National Housing Federation, which represents the Housing Association of England, told us that social landlords have increased the number of “the number of buildings” the buildings “the current rules and safety requirements” increased.

In the NCMD report, 13 children were all under 11 years of age, and died between April 2019 and the end of May 2025. In some cases, families reported broken windows, it says.

There was no lock or restrictive in four cases (which a window could open up to how far), four and in cases a lock or restrictive was present, but broke, and in another four they were not in use or disabled.

One of the dying children was Exodus Ib, who was one year old, when he fell out of an open window from the seventh floor of the Leeds Tower Block in 2022. The prohibition on the window was disintegrated because it was a warm day.

The lawyer who represented his family, Gareth Nayler told the BBC that the child climbed on a bed and collapsed, leaving the room in an adult’s “split second”.

The family of Exodus complained how wide the windows could be, the inquiry heard, but The coroner ruled the death, “casual” and windows were not defective,

The family loses his child in “terrible circumstances”, called Mr. Nayler.

“What did he ignore [Exodus’s] The inquiry is that these apartments are small, and the bed can only go under the window. “If the children are kept in towers, it is assumed that Mr. Niler,” a mesh or a guard “should be added for protection.

Other ambuses include five-year-old Alim Ahmed, who fell from the kitchen window of a social residence flat on the 15th floor of an East London Tower Block in May 2024-and two-year-old children of two-year-old children this year, two deaths, one in Glostersire and the other in South London.

The number of deaths in NCMD studies is “very disturbing”, which says Social Housing Watchdog, Housing Ombdsman Seva.

Its report highlights 34 cases of “severe malnutrition”, where complaints were badly dealt with. More than half of children, where windows were not repaired. The report states that the cases are not “one-off” and the landlords should immediately address security concerns.

It is “worrisome” how some window complaints have been handled by the landlords and how the report is being ignored at the risk of children’s fall, says Housing Ombdsman, Richard Blackway.

Examples of the Watchdog report include a mother who is unable to close some of her windows properly for four years, a window is coming loose from her frame in a child’s room, and the inhabitants to catch windows together to use duct tape to catch windows.

Dact tape is also that a tenant of a council in West London told us that he had tried to make his windows safe, as he was very concerned about his nine -year -old daughter. The tenant living on the Lancaster Court Estate in Fulham also says at a point, the broken handle, which the council said that it was unfamiliar, means that a window was open for a week during winter.

Overall, we talked to a dozen residents on the estate, owned by Hammersmith and Fulham Council, and saw that blind windows were a broad problem without a handle, as well as molding around the window frame.

The windows are a “death trap”, which has been called Tracy McGark, who has lived in her flat for five years and has been worried about the safety of her grandson.

The next day after contacting the council, it sent a team to survey the windows and found that six immediate repairs were required.

“We are investing more than £ 1M every week to resume and repair our aging housing stocks,” said Hammarsith and Phulham Council spokesperson said.

Council “Housing Ombdsman’s window safety is not fulfilling the standards, we are crossing them,” he said.

According to the Lokpal report, some landlords have been delayed temporary repair over years as it is “most cost effective” to wait for major functions.

Richard Blackway says, “Changing windows can be complex and expensive, but some residents may not justify for those situations.

Manchester Royal Information, compared to any similar period since 2020, has been told to the BBC, more than double the number of doubles with major trauma from a window fall between April and June this year.

Dr., a pediatric advisor of the children’s emergency department. Noli Mottershed says that there are some 14 cases in this spring, “about a week”.

“This is the highest number that we have seen, which is worrying us,” she says, saying that most patients were of pre-school age.

The doctor says that she cannot explain high number of events, but the UK recorded its hottest spring on the record.

Many families said that they knew that the window was broken, or would not be locked, and that no action was taken despite reporting a landlord, Dr. Mottershed says.

Child accident prevention Trust says that pre -school children are particularly susceptible to falling due to lack of awareness about danger.

Parents include fitting window lock in its advice And this is far from the furniture windows to ensure.

Hospitals, schools and care houses such as “risk” buildings are required to fit window restrictions, but such rules are currently not applied to rented housing.

A government consultation is currently happening on how to improve the standards in both private and socially rented houses – and it is observed that all the windows in all rented houses in England have children resistant restrictives on any windows that present the risk of decline.

Current proposals will make it possible for adults to override the restrictions to ensure fire safety, but advocate Gareth Nyaller says this is not enough. He wants to establish a restrictive that cannot be opened.

“If you fall out of one of those tower block windows, you are going to die,” they say. “This is equally simple. Death will continue to happen as long as you have these window restrictive, which can be deactivated, as it is very easy.”

We went to Estate in Leeds where Exodus died, and for many others where the child’s deaths had occurred, and saw many windows open.

A father told us that he was open to them because it is “so hot” in a tower. Another mother of two young children living on the top floor of a block said they would have to be careful “continuously” in hot days.

The National Housing Federation told us that it welcomed the review in the need of window restrictions on the upper floors of the block blocks.

“Housing Association is dedicated to ensuring that all residents are safe in their homes,” its director and director of research, Alastair Smith, said, “especially” recognize the significant importance of safe windows in ensuring children’s safety “.

The government has planned to change the current UK social housing rules, so a window will have to change if it has fallen into disorder, despite its age.

Under the current rules, the windows in flats have to be replaced instead of repair, if they have fallen into a state of chaos and are more than 30 years old.

According to the local government association, councils require sufficient and continuous funds to provide correct hope and qualification to tenants, which speak for local councils. Any new requirements should be completely funded by the government, a spokesman said.

A spokesman for the housing, communities and ministry ministry in England told us that “the lives of any child should not be at risk due to poor quality housing, and we are firm to stop future tragedies”.