‘My child can’t stay because of my damp house’
A Swansea Council house tenant claims he can’t have his child to stay because of his nine-month battle with damp from floor to ceiling.
Brandon Lewis, 25 also claims he has had to throw out bags of clothes and replace his home furniture due to the damage caused by the damp.
He lives in the flat with his pregnant partner, Lauren Davies, 23, who is concerned for the health of her unborn child and Brandon doesn’t want his young child to visit as he says the area and the condition of the flat is no place for a youngster.
Lauren who has Crohn’s disease and is concerned for her own health said: “The damp conditions, we shouldn’t be living in. It’s so bad for our health. There’s water seeping through the walls and in both bedrooms and some of the ceilings are peeling. We’ve got damp all up the balcony door and damp all around the windows. It smells like damp and our clothes are damp.”
Photos from inside the flat, in Brynmelyn in Swansea, show damp covering the walls and ceiling with black marks and drips covering surfaces. The couple say they have also suffered damage to their possessions.
Brandon and Lauren claim the issue affects every room of the flat and wasn’t present when Brandon moved there in August, 2020.
He said the flat had freshly plastered walls in the hallway and living room and there was no damage when he moved in, but in March, 2021, the issue of the damp began. It has also affected the couple’s personal items including Brandon’s child’s toys and other items.
Lauren added: “We can’t buy anything for our baby that’s due because we’re afraid it’s going to get damp. All of Brandon’s little boy’s stuff had to go to his mother’s, so we haven’t got anything for them here.”
Brandon has also had to replace the furniture in their home as he claims the damp has ruined them.
Brandon said: “I’ve just spent two hundred pounds to go to a friend’s who was selling a new bed and new sofas because I’ve had to throw ours because of the damp. I’ve thrown out four bags of clothes because of the damp.”
The couple also said that the flat had a very strong smell of damp and Brandon said his family never wanted to come into the property.
He added: “People who come here have all said it smells like damp, we’ve got used to it and we don’t notice the smell as much but everybody else notices it. When my family come to help us out with stuff, they never want to come in. They only come in to use the toilet then go.”
As well as the issue with damp, Lauren and Brandon said they didn’t feel safe in the area where their flat is located and felt anxious about Brandon’s child spending time there and bringing up their own baby there, that’s due in just 18 weeks.
They are located on the fifth floor of a 10-floor block of flats.
A spokesperson from Swansea Council said: “Discussions are ongoing with the tenant to resolve the issues raised.”