A mum-of-four is “scared” for her children’s health as she is being left to tackle the mould, damp and slugs in her Aberdeen City Council home.
Sarah Rennie has lived in her four-in-a-block home on Cummings Park Crescent for almost five years and first noticed the damp not long after moving in.
However, she says she has been left to deal with the damp herself and has had to redecorate her ground-floor flat due to black mould growing.
She noticed the damp problem get even worse last year and says she was still left to treat it herself, resulting in her needing to replace the carpets twice.
The 34-year-old even had to get a new bed in March because the mould had spread to her old one – and now she claims it is already ruined.
She estimates she has had to spend about £1,000 on repairs and replacement furniture with family helping her to cover the costs.
She also described her bathroom as a “disgrace” because the window is now so warped from the damp that it won’t close.
According to Miss Rennie, the upstairs neighbour’s toilet is also leaking into her bathroom, meaning the walls are constantly damp.
Aberdeen City Council is due to fit a new bathroom suite in January, which she hopes will help resolve the damp and mould in that room.
The council repair team visited her home on Monday after a kitchen pipe burst last week. She is hopeful this will stop some of the damp issues, but says the leaking pipe resulted in more mould growing.
Slugs found inside home
Miss Rennie says her home is now so damp she has started finding slugs on an almost daily basis. She said her one-year-old, who is now crawling and trying to find her feet, picked one up and almost ate it.
Her daughter’s room is always cold and the paper is coming away from the wall due to the damp, she says it constantly smells of damp.
Miss Rennie is also worried about the health implications of damp, especially after two-year-old Awaab Ishak died as a result of exposure to mould in his home in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
She says her children are constantly unwell, with her health visitor even writing to the council on her behalf.
Miss Rennie said: “I have been trying to push for a move due to the living conditions. A house just a few doors down from me has been condemned and I just wonder why – is it due to the same issues?
“The council isn’t taking it seriously and I am scared for my and my children’s health.
“I can’t continue having my children here breathing in those spores – it’s not acceptable.”
Advice to put down salt
According to Miss Rennie, the council has said there is nothing they can do to help. She claims they told her to put salt on her floors to deal with the slug problem, but she feels she cannot do that with her baby crawling around exploring.
She has also said aside from the visit on Monday, teams from the council have not been to assess any of her other complaints.
An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman said: “A visit to the property has been carried out and we are working with the tenant to ensure that the problems with the property are identified and resolved.”
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