Express & Star

Wolverhampton couple with baby complain over mould-filled house

A damp, smelly, mould-filled house has forced a Wolverhampton couple and their 10-week-old baby to sleep in their lounge.

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Carl Price and his partner Lisa Reilly live in the Rowan House property, owned by Midland Heart, with their daughter, Kacey-Mae.

Both he and his partner had contacted Midland Heart about the mould, Mr Price said, but after several weeks it did not appear the company was going to do anything to fix the problem.

Mr Price said their baby has only just come home from hospital where she was treated for a chest infection, and living in the mould-ridden house was only making things worse.

"In the night time when she is asleep you listen to her chest, and they are just hazardous conditions to be leaving people in," he said.

The family's home in Parkfields, Wolverhampton

The family are sleeping in the lounge as it is the warmest and most mould-free room in the house. Miss Reilly is an asthmatic and her health is also suffering.

Mr Price had shown photos of the mould to Kacey-Mae's GP who was 'disgusted' and said the baby should not be living there.

The walls, ceilings, and carpet had mould on them, as well as drawers and wardrobes, he said, and the storage heaters installed in the house did not work properly and were expensive to run.

Mr Price said: "It is growing like mould on a loaf of bread after you leave it out for a month."

Since the Express & Star contacted Midlands Heart, the company has been in touch with the couple and had sent another surveyor to look at the property. One had been to the house several weeks ago, and had said to Mr Price then the house was not fit to live in.

Mr Price said Midland Heart was looking at fixing or replacing the storage heaters, but not at properly fixing the mould and damp problem.

Baby clothes affected by mould

He said: "You can't see how they can justify leaving us here. I think it is disgusting.

"They won't even move us out of here temporarily while they complete the work and fix it."

The couple had so far lost hundreds of pounds worth of baby clothes, blankets, and the set of drawers and wardrobe they purchased when their baby was born, all ruined by the mould and damp.

Mr Price said they did not have any other options, as his mother's house was too small for the family to live there as well.

John Magness, assistant director of asset management at Midland Heart, said: "We take our responsibilities as a housing provider extremely seriously and are working closely with our customer to do all we can to resolve their concerns as swiftly as possible."

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