A Twerton mother-of-three is begging housing association Curo to move her family out of a damp and mouldy top-floor flat because of their health issues.
The young mum, who has asked us not to name her, lives at Cadby House in Woodhouse Road. She suffers from severe epilepsy and her second child has issues including asthma and autism.
She is also concerned about her family’s safety in the social housing block in Woodhouse Road.
The 27-year-old, whose children are aged five, three and one, contacted the Bath Echo to share her story.
We have seen documentation including letters from health professionals and one from her three-year-old son’s pre-school highlighting concerns about their living conditions and the recommendation that they be rehomed.
On being offered the flat four years ago, she said she was assured that there were no problems with damp.
However, she discovered that the previous tenant was rehomed because of it and the problem has continued.
The young mum said: “When it rains, my flat rains. And we have had a lot of rain.”
Suffering from severe epilepsy and prone to sudden seizures, she struggles to carry her children up and down the stairs.
Her three-year-old, who was born with the respiratory disorder wet lungs, has asthma and his health condition escalated in February when he was admitted for a stay in hospital because of breathing difficulties.
As a result, Curo moved the family into an Airbnb in Twerton and some work has been carried out at the flat, including painting over the mould and some replastering.
She said the scaffolding currently around Cadby House has been there for about five weeks in preparation for work on the roof but that has not started as yet.
The family had to be out of the Airbnb, which she said had no living room, by Good Friday. Although she was offered another Airbnb, she said it was not suitable for her son who has previously tried to climb out of windows; it had no living room, the road was right outside the front door, and there were no window locks to stop him if he tried to escape.
She felt she had no option but to move back to the flat, where her son is now struggling to settle in again. She is anxious that the positioning of the scaffolding means she cannot open her windows nor get onto her balcony in the event of a fire.
There was a fire in a flat in the block some months ago when firefighters had to smash down the tenant’s door because he’d gone out and left something cooking.
Other issues which she said Curo have been made aware of include that homeless people sleep under the stairs and that a window in the block has been broken for some months.
“(They say) ‘OK. We’ll send someone out.’ And then if you ring up, ‘Oh, we haven’t got that logged.’ Nothing’s ever logged with them.”
She added: “Every time I talk to someone, it’s not in their department, so it’s nothing to do with them.”
She said she had “begged them just to get us out. Just put me anywhere I know I’m safe and my son is safe.”
However, she has been told the family are not a priority as there are people in a much worse situation that need housing.
Curo have told her that she can try to arrange a home swap but that has not been possible. She said she had looked at a private property to rent, close to family in Weston, but it was £1,600 a month, which she could not afford.
On Thursday 21st March she went along to the Curo offices with her father to discuss her situation and said that while there, a member of staff told her it wasn’t her paying the rent as she was on Universal Credit and started laughing at her.
Her father told the staff member he was rude and the man then allegedly “squared up” to him.
While she was at the Curo offices, she said the housing association received eight phone calls about damp or mould and two people had come in because of similar problems, one of them an elderly man.
The young mother has raised her complaints about Curo with the Housing Ombudsman.
She told us that other flats in Cadby House are also affected by damp and mould and knows of one tenant who can’t use her child’s bedroom because of it and has had to throw away a lot of clothes.
Meanwhile, another young Cadby House tenant told us that her experience of living there for months has been “awful” because of the mould which has meant she has had to throw away many items of clothing.
She said she had complained “multiple times” and that tenants have been told there is mould because they don’t put the heating on; they have also been told not to use tumble dryers and to keep on top of the mould problem by cleaning it every day but she can’t do that as she has recently had surgery.
She also said she does not feel she has the right to be moved as she has not been there very long.
We have been told that there is a damp and mould problem at neighbouring Rodney House and understand that the flats at Woodhouse Road were meant to be knocked down a few years ago.
A spokesperson for Curo said: “We take damp and mould complaints very seriously and have been working with Miss X to resolve the issues that she has raised. We have a robust approach to dealing with damp and mould issues.
“We were the first organisation to sign up to the B&NES Damp and Mould Charter and we remain fully committed to upholding its principles.
“We have carried out remedial work, including replacing windows and treating the damp and mould that was reported. We have made good the area by replastering and painting, given Miss X B&Q vouchers as she wished to paint her son’s room ready for his return, and we have paid for a new hall carpet.
“While the work was taking place, we arranged and paid for Miss X and her family to stay in an Airbnb flat which was chosen by Miss X. We also paid for an additional week so that she could move in gradually to assist her son in settling back in.
“Damp and mould can often be caused by structural issues. Other contributory factors can be a lack of ventilation and insufficient heating. We know that meeting the cost of energy bills can be difficult, particularly during a cost of living crisis and we have also assisted Miss X in getting financial support for gas and electricity bills.
“Everyone can reduce the likelihood of condensation by ventilating their homes effectively, for example by using trickle vents and opening windows. We offer all our customers advice about simple steps that they can take to help reduce condensation.
“We have a zero-tolerance approach to aggressive behaviour towards our colleagues. Curo colleagues always treat customers with respect, and we expect the same in return.
“We have a comprehensive record of our correspondence and conversations with Miss X, and she has a direct line of communication with our Senior Property Maintenance Manager. On 21 March, Miss X and her father met with two Curo Directors and the Senior Property Maintenance Manager at our offices, and she left with an agreed plan.
“There has been a leak in the roof at Cadby House, which we recognise has caused some issues for our customers. We are replacing the roof on the building which requires the use of scaffolding.
“We have assessed the position of the scaffolding and can reassure residents that it does not pose a fire risk.
“We know that Miss X would like to move to a new home. This is not something we can arrange as the Home Search housing allocation system is run centrally by Bath & North East Somerset Council and includes properties managed by all housing associations; applications are assessed by the council’s team and are based on need.
“However we have helped Miss X to apply to the council to have her banding reassessed on medical grounds.
“In addition to providing homes, Curo also provides additional services to our customers, including help with applying for benefits and accessing other financial support, and gaining employability skills.
“The rent for a Curo home in B&NES is, on average, around one-third of the cost of privately renting.”
The tenant’s name has been removed from the provided statement to protect her identity.