Coats on as family shivers in cold
SHATTERED mum Emma ReynoldsKemp is at her wits’ end in another flat owned by Birmingham City Council.
It is so cold and damp that she, Leah, eight, and Lewis, three, keep their coats on – and the kids wake up with blue lips.
Lewis, who has a severe airway disease, has been to the GP 50 times and hospitalised three times with breathing problems. His mum blames the damp.
Emma, 26, says the council promised to inspect the mouldy flat but four visits were cancelled at the last minute. The full-time mum, who gets housing benefit, says: “I’m still getting nowhere. I’ve broken down on the phone to the council. Lewis’s chest has been getting so bad. He’s had to have steroids to open his chest.
“The doctor says he’s been having too many for his age and that’s a concern. Seeing your child struggling to breathe is really upsetting. It’s so scary. The windows are old and the problem won’t go away until they replace
them. I’m spending so much but I can’t heat the flat. If prices go up, I might have to choose between heating and eating.”
The council said a contractor would treat the mould, adding: “We are in the process of moving everyone out as the block is due to be demolished in the next few years. We remain committed to homes of an appropriate standard.”