I’m a mum-of-three crammed into ‘disgusting’ tiny council home with my kids – we can’t even open the windows
A DESPERATE mum is pleading to be moved out of her mould-ridden council home.
Katie Roberts, 26, says she is being forced to live in “disgusting” conditions alongside her partner, three children and her sister in Wednesbury, West Midlands.
She even has letters from doctors saying the mould is a “significant risk” to the young children’s health – but claims Sandwell Council are doing nothing to help.
The situation has become so unbearable for the family that Katie’s three-month-old daughter Willow now has to live with her grandmother.
The tot was prescribed inhalers having developed a wheeze and a cough while her two other children – Hunter, three, and Scarlett, two – also have health conditions as a result of the mould.
Katie said: “I’m separated from my baby, and we can’t form the attachment between a baby and mother that is so important to them in their early life.
“This mould has made her that ill that she’s at the doctors pretty much every week.
“The letters from the doctors even say that she needs to be moved to a safe environment.
“There are just too many people and too much furniture in the house that the air can’t circulate and it’s causing mould.
“In the summer, we can open the windows, but when it gets to winter, that isn’t an option.”
When Katie was pregnant with Willow, a letter from her GP addressed to the council read: “The mould issue is a significant risk factor to the health of her unborn child.
“It would be in Katie’s and her unborn child’s best interest for her to be relocated as soon as possible to a bigger property with four bedrooms and a garden.”
Katie, who lives with partner Ashley, 27, has accused the council of “not taking them seriously” despite begging to be relocated to more suitable housing.
She said another reason for needing a bigger house is because Hunter has suspected autism often having meltdowns and requires his own space.
Katie, who cannot work due to suffering from PTSD, social anxiety disorder, autism and paranoid schizophrenia, added: “The doctors are really concerned about my children.
“My boy has asthma now too and is also on inhalers. He has to have his own room, he cannot share anything, he has meltdowns.
There are just too many people and too much furniture in the house that the air can’t circulate and it’s causing mould.
Katie Roberts
“He needs his own calm space.”
Because of her history of complex mental health issues, Katie is also worried about the growing impact her living situation is having on her own well-being.
Both her and Ashley are considered disabled because of their poor mental health and cannot work.
She said: “I’ve had to be put on even more medication because of the stress of living like this.
How to settle a dispute with your private landlord
THE first step is to try and talk through the problem, but if this does not go to plan you can write a formal letter.
Simply explain the problem and what you want them to do to resolve it.
If unsuccessful, the next step is to complain to your local council, which can help with issues regarding:
- repairs that cause a risk to your health and safety not being done (e.g faulty electrical wiring not being fixed)
- illegal eviction
- harassment
- dishonest or unfair trading behaviour
If your landlord still doesn’t sort out your problem or if the council can’t help, you might be able to take court action.
Just remember this can be expensive so make sure it’s the right option for you.
You can get free advice from Shelter and free advice from Citizens Advice about disputes and housing problems.
In Wales, you can contact Shelter Cymru.
Civil Legal Advice (CLA) can offer some people free and confidential services as part of legal aid, if you’re in England and Wales.
A solicitor can also help you too, but they might charge a fee.
If you’re a social tenant, you should complain to the Housing Ombudsman.
“I’m scared of what will happen if I keep getting pushed and pushed. I will end up in hospital again and I can’t, I have three kids.
“We need to be moved, it needs to be done.
“There is no space, the lack of air circulation is affecting my children’s physical health and my mental health because I can see that my children are ill.
“It is so small and cramped, I’m up early hours in the morning just cleaning. It’s so overcrowded it’s not right.
“It’s the waiting time that’s the worst thing. I don’t know how many letters it will take.
“They need to treat this like the emergency that it is.”
Sandwell Council said teams have been to clean the house and will be speaking to the family about the issue.
They added demand for council properties in the borough is greater than supply, leading to long wait times and discussions on other ways to find suitable accommodation.
Mould is a hazard for young children and can cause respiratory problems.
It comes as a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by Channel 4 revealed revealed that nearly 17,000 legal claims have been made by social tenants to 50 councils in England since 2020.
The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act, which came into force in 2019, means landlords must make sure their properties meet certain standards.
How much compensation you get for housing disrepair depends on your circumstances and how bad the problem is.
It is usually calculated as a percentage of the rent you paid while living in the conditions.
A completely uninhabitable property could get 100 per cent of rent as compensation, but this is rare.
More typically, compensation would be between 25 per cent and 50 per cent of your rent, according to legal experts.
Still, tenants will have to pay court fees unless they’re entitled to free legal aid, but you’ll get some back if you win your case.
Plus, no-win, no-fee firms take a portion of your refund if your case is successful.
Your rights and how to complain
According to Shelter you can ask your landlord for compensation if they fail to carry out repairs in a reasonable time frame.
Issues you can take action for include:
- Damp and mould throughout the property
- Defective plasterwork
- Defective brickwork
- Defective windows throughout the property
- Defective/faulty electrics
- Excess cold due to lack of radiators in the property
- Defective/leaking shower
- Lack of extractor fans in the property
- Defective / cracked rendering
- Defective heating
You can also claim if it’s unfit to live in because of poor conditions.
These rules apply to private landlords, councils and housing associations.
You’ll first need to go to your landlord or letting agent to complain and you’ll need to show evidence and set out why you think you’re entitled to a payout.
If your landlord doesn’t agree you can take court action, but beware that this can cost money.
You can do this when you are still living there or after the end of a tenancy.
But Shelter warns that some private landlords evict tenants who ask for compensation, so it may be better to wait.
You can claim up to six years from when the work should have been carried out, or three years for a personal injury claim.
You can make a claim for the inconvenience as well as financial losses.
For example damage to your belongings, the cost of having to buy a heater if your boiler breaks, or loss of earnings from taking time off work if your health is affected.
Before going to court your landlord might settle the claim by offering you compensation or a rent reduction.
If not, before heading to court you could go to the Housing Ombudsman to make a formal complaint if you are a council or housing association tenant.
You can also complain to a redress scheme if you rent privately through a letting agent, but only if the agent contributed to the dispute.
For claims of under £1,000 you can take it to the small claims court.
Fees are lower and you won’t have to cover the costs of your landlord if you’re unsuccessful.
You can also do this yourself and don’t have to have a solicitor.
For larger claims there are higher fees and you’re likely to need a solicitor.
The costs can add up but you might be able to get help through legal aid.
You could also use a no-win, no-fee firm, but remember that it will take a cut of any payout.
The court can force a landlord to carry out a fix and pay compensation.
If the court finds in favour of the tenant then the landlord could be liable for some or all of the legal costs.
Compensation for housing disrepair usually ranges from 25 per cent to 50 per cent of your rent.
For example, if you paid £9,600 in rent over a year and had heating issues continuously for that period, if your claim was successful you could get 25 per cent of that back – which is £2,400 in compensation.
How much you’ll get will depend on the damage and how long the landlord took to make the repairs.
But if not, you could be left covering costs so it’s worth considering court as a last resort.
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