Aibu or is this unacceptable?

[busybusybusymummy]

Hi Mums,

Apologies for the long post.

9 weeks ago we were instructed by our housing association that we need a annual electrical check ( after 5 years of living here)
Somebody came the following week and said that due to us having two fuse boards he would have to have someone combine the two on to one.

Someone came , spent 13 hours fixing the fuse board and left around 10pm.
The next day we woke up to no hot water and no heating. We notified our housing association but between 15-20 people came in and out of our home. Some saying they were unable to fix it , some didn't have the time and others saying they were given the wrong parts for the job meaning we were left without either hot water or heating for 7 weeks.

During the end of our time without hot water and heating and the last two weeks since we have had hot water we have horrific damp, mold and condensation,

Over our beds, in the bathroom , living room. We had to throw away our sofa because of the smell of damp.

Now we have been chasing up our housing association and they keep sending people round to evaluate but won't answer our phone calls or call us back .

We have been told by two different people that this is due to no ventilation when we had no heating and there isn't a roofing problem.

We have a 2 year old a 7 month old and I am 4 months pregnant.

Any advice ??

Sorry for the rambling , have tried to include as much as possible

Please see photos

Contact Shelter, they are best to speak to about this, the law around disrepair is complex and MN will just give you bad armchair lawyer advice.

sorry, no photos showing. i would chase the h/a one more time then contact my mp for advice and also shelter and my local council to see if they can kick start stuff. your h/a sound like a real shit show and need a really good kick to sort themselves out.

13 hours to sort out a fuse board would annoy me in itself, you must be a patient person and the rest of it on top.

That is bad mould, were there no issues before the heating went off?

I second talking to shelter about the legal side of this.

To deal with the mould I would get some oil heaters for the rooms(if you don't have any heating yet) and a dehumidifier either way.

Wash the walls down with mould remover, make sure you are opening the windows regularly and run the dehumidifier.

You have seals missing around the glass on the windows, tell em that's dangerous in case it falls out

environmental health was the the magic bullet for us after months of no boiler over the winter.

Contact environmental health too! That's disgusting, black mold can be dangerous.

@lakesidewinter nothing, no problems and we've been here 5 years next month

Get on to the council. Get an environmental health officer out. No way would you HA be allowed to get away with that.

They should be supplying you with some form of temporary heating even if its oil filled radiators or gas heater.

Black mould is very often condensation. So very likely from the lack of heat. Yanbu. This is awful for anyone but with little kids it's just a joke. Even with no heating bfor that long it's a piss take never mind the rest! I agree shelter are good. But I do wonder if they will be busy right now.

Christ, that’s awful. Poor you.

No adult should be living in that, let alone babies!

Speak to your local councillor, check to see if a councillor sits on your HA board, if so contact them directly. You should be able to find this information via the HA website. Failing that try the local press.

If you can't get hold of anyone to sort this out at the HA directly contact the chair of the board. You are unlikely to get a phone number for them but should be able to email them. The board is ultimately responsible for the HA.
You can also complain to the regulator, they may direct you back to the HA if you haven't exhausted the HA's complaints process. The HA won't want the regulator involved.

That is outrageous I would seek legal advice if you don’t get a response by lunchtime tomorrow. I wouldn’t care how busy anyone, raise high hell, that is no situation for you never mind two small children to be living in! Don’t take this lying down, that level of mound is a major health hazard.

How busy anyone is.....
Mould..... good god I’m outraged for you, was typing in a temper!

I helped a patient in a similar situation to you by calling environmental health, I think they had a subsection called healthy homes when I contacted them but it's probably different in each area. When you ring make sure you tell them about all the kids and being pregnant. Also ring shelter for advice. That's really appalling. I hope it's sorted for you soon.

Jesus Christ that is bad. We a 2 year old, 7 month old & pregnant and they left you with no heating for 7 weeks & now have left you with this?!

What happens when you try to wash it off? Has it stopped now you have heating back?
Can you deep clean it then paint over it?

I would also look to be contacting your local MP and local councillor, its amazing how quickly they often jump when they get involved

Present yourself at their office. Stage a sit in and refuse to leave until they arrange a hotel for you and your family. They absolutely can do this, as I arrange such things everyday. They also have to give you £15 per person per day meal allowance. They claim it back via landlords insurance.
Don't stay in conditions like those with young children.
Also if they want to put dehumidifiers in, take a meter reading and bill them for the cost of electricity.

Your HA will have a formal complaints procedure listed on their website. Make a complaint and do it now. If you can remember the dates of when contractors came write them down so you can remember them if required. Take photos of everything which has been affected by damp, rooms, furniture, clothing, beds etc and include them in the complaint and make sure that you keep a copy/record of all correspondence and any phone calls made

In my opinion, doesn't count for much I know, the mold has been caused by the repair taking too long. It used to be that damage caused after a repair was reported is the legal responsibility of the social housing landlord but I don't know if it's still the case. It can be hard to get them to admit anything or cough up compensation though, even if it is. My brother easily got full cost compensation after he reported a small leak around his window that made the dye in his carpet run. An acquaintance got his kitchen destroyed by water leaking from the flat above going unfixed for seven months, they basically told him tough shit/go fuck yourself. Depends on your area and who you speak with I think.

Read these two, the second one has some useful links top right too.

england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/landlord_and_tenant_responsibilities_for_repairs

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/repairs-in-rented-housing/repairs-what-are-your-options-if-you-are-a-social-housing-tenant/repairs-what-are-the-landlord-s-responsibilities/

This is awful OP. Sorry, no practical advice but you deserve better than this. I hope you get a solution quickly.