Mother and young kids living in house ‘covered in mould’
FEARS FOR FAMILY’S HEALTH
A HULL mum fears for the health and safety of her two young children as she faces persistent problems with damp and mould at their family home.
Erin, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, lives in the east Hull house with her five-year-old son and baby daughter.
She first raised concerns about the damp and mould to her landlords, Preston Road Women’s Centre, operating as Winner Trading Ltd, in January last year, but claims no action has been taken to rectify the issues.
This is despite members of Hull City Council’s environmental health team visiting the property and stating enforcement action could be taken by the council if certain repairs are not made.
Erin’s partner, Chris, whose name has also been changed, does not live at the property, but contacted the Mail on her behalf.
He said: “The house is absolutely covered in damp and mould, that’s the worst thing about it.
“It’s in the bathroom, both bedrooms and the living room.
“Every single wall in the front living room has it.
“It’s damaged furniture and even damaged a TV unit.
“My partner messages quite often and gets blanked.”
Chris claims that no repairs had been made by the landlords to address the problem and said: “What they told us to do was to wipe it down.
“But we have done that once and it just comes straight back.”
He said Erin has recently applied for council accommodation, partly due to the damp and mould at her current house and to be able to move into a property with him.
But having no success so far and with concerns about the long-term health impact of living in the house on the children, the couple were prompted to get in touch.
“I’ve also been in contact with environmental health from Hull City Council.
“They’ve visited twice already and are set to visit again this month.”
Chris said that environmental health last visited in November and had made recommendations to the landlords, Winner Trading Ltd, to take action on the issues with the property.
“Hull City Council have put loads of repairs down, for them to do, but nothing’s been done,” he claimed.
A Hull City Council spokeswoman confirmed that members of environmental health had visited the property and said: “The council inspected the property in July and identified a schedule of work required by the landlord, Winner Trading Ltd, to improve the accommodation.
“A further visit recently showed that improvements were under way, but a number of the scheduled items identified in the previous visit remained unaddressed, therefore a further visit has been arranged for later this month.
“If the work hasn’t been completed, the council will take appropriate formal enforcement action under the Housing Act 2004.”
Preston Road Women’s Centre, operating as Winner Trading Ltd has also been contacted for comment.