Health fears over flat damp
A MUM-OF-TWO said she had to sleep on her sofa while she was heavily pregnant because the damp was so bad in her bedroom in Bridgend.
Scarlett Morgan has been sleeping in her living room for the past three months.
A MUM-OF-TWO said she had to sleep on her sofa while she was heavily pregnant because the damp was so bad in her bedroom.
Scarlett Morgan has been sleeping in her living room for the past three months due to a large crack on her bedroom wall which she claims has caused damp to spread through her two-bedroom flat in Bridgend.
Scarlett, said she was concerned about the impact the damp was having on her family’s health and well-being.
“There’s too much damp in there and I’ve got a bad chest,” she said. “I’ve been sleeping in the living room for about three months now, while I was heavily pregnant as well.”
She claimed she had been waiting a year for housing organisation Valleys to Coast (V2C) to fix the wall and the damp.
“The majority of the damp is in the bedroom. There’s a little bit in the living room but it’s all around the windows. It’s really mild in there compared to the bedroom. When you walk in the room you can smell the damp.
“My partner is having to use the bedroom because there’s no space in the living room for him.”
She moved into the property with her 14-month-old daughter River-Rae and partner Mark Wetton in January 2020.
Mark’s 71-year-old mother also now lives with them after moving in during the coronavirus pandemic because she felt “isolated”. She is having to share a room with 14-month-old River-Rae.
Daughter Tieraraye was born six weeks ago, making them a family of five.
Scarlett said she first reported issues with the property to Valleys to Coast in February 2020, after noticing the large crack in one of the bedroom walls while redecorating.
She said she was advised it was not an emergency and the couple put tarpaulin over it while waiting for someone to visit the flat and investigate.
She claimed a housing support officer inspected the property and advised her not to sleep in the bedroom with her youngest daughter.
Scarlett said: “We’ve been overcrowded for the last six months. We’re only in a little two-bed flat.
“The best outcome would be if they move us into a new property.”
The couple have sought legal advice and Bridgend council’s environmental health department has been informed of the issue.
A Bridgend council spokesman said the authority had contacted Scarlett and V2C “to find out further information in relation to the issues raised”.
He added: “We are currently waiting to hear from V2C on what action is planned to remedy the problem.”
V2C is a not-for-profit organisation that owns 5,835 homes in Bridgend. The company also manages more than 700 leasehold flats and other properties.
Steve Gopal, V2C’s corporate director of property, said: “Our customer has contacted us regarding some repairs required at the property which include condensation.
“We have visited our customer and talked through some methods of dealing with the condensation which will help ease the situation.
“There are some other repairs outstanding which we have identified as nonurgent and these will be dealt with promptly once the current Covid restrictions ease.
“During this difficult period our main concern is ensuring our customers and colleagues are safe and once we are told it is safe to resume with nonurgent repairs we will look to remedy these at the earliest opportunity.”