A radical report that recommends moving all council tenants with health issues caused by their damp, mouldy homes will go before cabinet.

The proposals, based on 15 months of research, were passed by the health and care scrutiny committee last week.

As reported in the Gazette, experts found health problems from asthma and colds to respiratory and heart conditions can be caused by cold and damp, while there is also “strong evidence” it affects people’s mental health.

Early exposure has also been found to trigger asthma and wheezing in young children.

Town hall officers have also been told to stop blaming people for the condition of their homes and recognise huge amounts of Islington’s housing stock is not up to scratch.

The executive will now decide whether to pass the recommendations, which would be welcomed by the thousands of people affected but would create major problems for the housing department, with the waiting list already bursting at the seams.

Islington Council now spends £2million a year tackling the problem and major works are already underway at the two worst-hit estates, Andover and Girdlestone – the latter of which is 95 per cent damp-ridden.

The committee did make slight amendments to the plans. Tenants will now have to show medical proof of the causes of their illness before being put on the housing list.