Mouldy council housing

[mumma224]

I moved into a council property about 2 months ago, was super excited to finally have somewhere more long term after being in temp for 5 months with my daughter, who is now 8 months old. The place was super clean, and I was super excited. Within a week of being here, I noticed rain water coming through my ceiling, I then spent weeks trying to get ahold of the council to come look and see what is causing this. They came out 2 weeks ago and I was told all the ceilings and phelt on the roof is absolutely knackered and will all need replacing, and I’ve heard nothing since. My daughter has been consistently ill for the past month, prior to moving here she never got ill, ever. The main bedroom, which me and my daughter sleep in, where the leak is most prominent, is extremely damp and mouldy. My babies high chair as well as a few of her play mats went mouldy. I haven’t even unpacked properly as it seems the few things I did unpack, eventually turned mouldy. It is absolutely freezing cold constantly but there is no point putting my heating on when I’m having to keep my windows open constantly to air out the rooms as everything feels wet. I feel like I am neglecting my own baby having her in this house, and I hate to sound ungrateful but the council approving this property to be rented out when it needs major roof repairs is a major f up. My partner died a few months ago and I have a lot of his things here, I mentally will not cope having to get rid of his things due to them going mouldy, I am constantly stressed out. Life is hard, that’s my rant.

If you are not putting any heating on in January and February of course it will be damp and mouldy. To prevent mould you need to heat and ventilate. Doing one without the other makes the mould. Your baby will be breathing in cold air with no heat and that's probably what's making her ill. The council will need to reflect the flat roof but you could help yourself by turning on the heat. Also you could get a dehumidifier to suck up any damp until the roof is repaired.

Sorry your partner died OP. That must be really tough. You need to keep your baby warm.

Go onto your council website and look for the complaints procedure. There should be a form that you can fill in. Explain what's happening. They have to respond within something like 28 days. They will likely take an official complaint more seriously, than just phoning them to chase it up. If they don't respond to the complaint, you can then escalate it to the next level. Please try this asap.

Sorry your partner died but you need to keep your baby warm just decamp to living room just now where it's not damp honestly are you very young because you seem to not be thinking straight

It’s not good enough, is it. I’d echo what PO said about complaining and then escalating the complaint to the ombudsman if that doesn’t work. The other thing you could consider is speaking to your councillor and as a last resort a disrepair solicitor

You do need to have your hearing on though, for your families health and for the house.

Did the council mention if the house was on a programme to have a new roof?

Please follow up you brung told it needs replacing. Take notes of who you speak to and what is agreed.

Invest in some dehumidifiers and keep the heating on. Wipe back the wet and mould each day and keep phoning the council, every day if needed, until you get some solid answers as to the roof situation.

Sounds like you have had a rough time and I hope they help soon.

Sorry you're in this situation. Can you ask to be moved to different accommodation until the roof is sorted out? Do you have anyone who can support you with getting the council to act? Could you contact your health visitor for support? You need to keep your children warm and away from mould as a priority.

Get your local mp on to it too

You have got to keep the house warm. Opening the windows will help but you need the heating on to dry the rooms out.

Connect with your local Councillor (Google who it is), invite them to come and see the problem and then they will kick up a fuss and the council will hopefully speed up your repair. Good luck with it all.

Make a formal complaint but you do need to keep the property warm and ventilated or you are adding to the issue and they could use the fact the home is cold against you sadly, in the event of a complaint. I worked for a HA I know the games they / councils play, so you have to ensure that nothing you do contributes to the issue. This should help -
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/damp_mould_social_housing/damp_mould_complain

I'm so sorry you're in this situation OP.

There's a lot that will feel out of your control but I would:

1. buy a dehumidifier as soon as you possibly can.
2. Put the heating on. Get the place warmed up
3. Make sure you're clear on what the procedure is for chasing the housing authority to get the roof fixed

www.meacodehumidifiers.co.uk/products/meaco-dry-abc-range-10l-compressor-dehumidifier-black-free-3-year-warranty-abc10l-b?variant=40694777151542&om=13066&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=%7Bcampaignname%7D&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADhlqMMf5PnB0kVQ7LTbue7RgloCC&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyJmaqs64iwMVg5JQBh0ARwAuEAQYHiABEgKEVvD_BwE

You need both heat and ventilation to avoid mould. Not putting on the heating is nuts.

Ask for a mould eradication kit from the council. It contains Bactdet and Halophen is is incredibly effective.

But you are right to complain.

Methodically go through writing to your council, writing to your councillors, then write to your mp

take advice from shelter but don’t make phone calls - keep everything by email is my advice

as soon as you have a phone call - ahh we didn’t know about that

but an email they can’t deny

I'm so sorry OP, I've been listening to a podcast called The Trapped about the massive failings of repairs in social housing http://www.thetrapped.co.uk this is the website - you may have heard some of the reporting if you listen to ITV news as it their investigations, I wonder if you can message your local MP, copy in the CEO of the Housing Association, tell them you are approaching the investigative team to report your own situation and ask them how they are going to prioritise your repairs.

PM me if you need help finding any of the details for the MP / head of the HA

Sorry noticed this on this site too

If you are in bad housing or your living situation is under threat you’ll also find a full list of people to contact to get help here: https://thetrapped.co.uk/are-you-trapped.html

It says if you have complained and are getting nowhere then the first escalation is the housing ombudsman https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/residents/bring-your-complaint-to-the-housing-ombudsman/

You need to follow the official complaints procedure, and if that doesn't work you can raise it for free with the Housing Ombudsman. Details here. In the meantime sleep in another room, put the heating on and get a dehumidifier for the room you and baby are sleeping in.

I understand about limiting the heating due to cost, seeing the price rise on my smart meter rapidly when the heating is on is frightening!
Instead air the whole house by opening every window at the same time for a few minutes each day, maybe just before you leave or while on the school run.
Alternatively air a room at a time for a while, windows fully open but door closed.
Then pop the heating on for a short while, if it's damp inside it's harder to heat.
That will help temporarily but other posters can help with fighting the council.

Hi OP I work for a housing association and deal with situations like this day in day out. Please call your HA and ask to make a formal complaint, this will give them deadlines they have to adhere to to get this sorted out for you. It also means you have the option to go to the Housing Ombudsman if they don't address it well enough/quickly enough.

In the meantime, you really do need to make sure you're heating your home and ventilating well to try to reduce the mould. Ask your HA to do a mould wash to clean what's already there and then it should be easier for you to keep on top of. You could also ask them to provide you with a dehumidifier. If your energy bills go up because of that and from keeping your windows open, ask them to reimburse you as part of the complaint resolution. I do this all the time for customers in similar circumstances.

If none of the above makes a difference then ask to be decanted while they do the roof repair. The Housing Ombudsman are really cracking down on damp & mould at the moment and Awaab's Law is coming in in October, so the HA should take this very seriously.

I'm really sorry you're struggling and I hope your situation improves soon. Feel free to PM me if you need any more advice.

The thing is if the council turn up and it's freezing cold with no heating on they will say OP is contributing to the mould. She needs to ventilate then close window and heat. Then after 4 hours ventilate again then close window and heat. She needs a dehumidifier to suck the damp away. A young child would be frozen with no heating on at all and windows open in February.

I have oil heaters on now so it takes the chill away but because the ceiling needs repairing, it’s hard to keep heat in. The mould is mostly in the main bedroom, which I’ve now basically closed off until it’s all sorted. I’m still having to keep baby in extra layers but half the time I go and spent my days at my mums house just to get out of here.

I am only getting mould in areas where water has come through the ceiling but assuming this has been a long term issue in this property, it seems all the walls in the main bedroom have been affected by this. I’m hoping to get some answers this week as to when this is going to be sorted for me!

Good luck op. I hope the council sort it out soon and I'm glad you have somewhere warm to go. If you manage to speak to someone this week could you ask them to supply dehumidifiers while you're waiting for it to be fixed?

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