An Aberdeen mum and her three children have fled their crumbling council flat after being left flabbergasted by claims it’s still safe to live in.
Karolina Osinska, 38, moved into the property on Brierfield Terrace with her family in December 2020.
She was pregnant with her second child at the time.
Karolina claims the Cornhill property was already damp when they arrived, so she lodged a complaint with Aberdeen City Council.
However, despite mould continuing to spread, she heard nothing back.
Karolina made efforts to combat the issue by cleaning the walls but, no matter what she tried, it kept returning.
Little did she know a bigger problem was still to come.
This August, a leak from the flat above caused the plaster on her bathroom ceiling to crumble and come tumbling down.
The single mum discovered the mess after returning home from a holiday.
In our interview, the emotional tenant tells us:
- How the damp became so bad that her children started “regularly coughing”, as a “rotten smell” enveloped their home.
- A shocked council official “refused to enter” the bathroom when one finally arrived.
- And how the ordeal has left the family of four sharing a two-bedroom flat with her mum in Seaton.
Family had to wait seven weeks for council inspection
A frantic Karolina called the council’s emergency number on August 8, and again a week later, to report the issue but she said no-one turned up.
She called again the next day and was told an inspector would arrive on September 6.
This too passed without any visit.
The increasingly anxious mum even printed out photographs showing the damp, which she sent to the council as she became desperate for something to finally be done.
A second inspector eventually assessed the damage on September 27, seven weeks after the issue was initially reported.
Karolina said the council worker was “totally shocked” and too “terrified” to enter the bathroom as he was worried the ceiling could fall on him at any moment.
40 applications made for new council house
As no action was being taken, Karolina felt her only choice was to move out of the filthy flat with her children, now aged 10, four and two.
The family is now crammed in with her mother at a two-bedroom house in Seaton.
While they no longer live in the Cornhill flat, Karolina is still paying rent and a request for a refund was refused by the local authority.
Aberdeen City Council emailed Karolina at the start of October to tell her the bathroom facilities could still be used and her rent would be charged as normal.
Karolina still has some belongings left behind but believes they will have to be thrown out due to mould.
She is currently waiting for a nomination for a new property.
The frustrated mother has contacted Grampian Housing, Osprey Housing, Castlehill and Sanctuary Scotland but they all have lengthy waiting lists.
She has already bid for more than 40 properties and is hopeful that she will be allocated a three-bedroom home.
Aberdeen City Council itself is responsible for around 22,000 properties.
‘Beyond belief council could ignore a single mother with children’
Karolina branded her current Cornhill flat as “unsuitable” and “a safety hazard”.
She added: “I moved out of concern for my safety and that of my children.
“It’s beyond belief that the council could ignore a single mother with young children for such a long time.”
Damp in the flat was causing the family to regularly cough, the bedroom walls were wet due to poor ventilation and she claimed the property had a “rotten” smell.
Not only did living in the mouldy property have an impact on her physical health, but her mental wellbeing too.
“The worst thing is that they don’t do anything about this,” she stated.
“I sent a number of letters, I made phone calls but no-one even answered.
“They were just trying to sweep this under the rug, they haven’t done anything.”
But an Aberdeen City Council spokesman confirmed they were handling the case and work to fix the ceiling is now underway.
He said: “We are aware of the complaint relating to this property and are dealing directly with the resident.”
Aberdeen man’s decade-long fight to get issues fixed at council home
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