My rotting & mouldy house nearly killed my baby – now housing association want to charge me £600 a MONTH to fix it
A DAD’S rotting and mouldy home nearly killed his baby – and the housing association wants to charge him £600 a month to fix it.
Fuming Rhys Nicol said his three-month-old son Azair was so sick he was “throwing up green”.
The tot was then diagnosed with Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – a potentially fatal chest infection.
Dad-of-one Rhys, 18, said his home in Attleborough, Norfolk, is so mouldy the windowsills and walls are covered in “blacky-green fur and spots” and the bathroom has “red dots” all over it.
However, his biggest concern was finding his baby’s mattress and nursery were “smothered” in mould.
“The mould patch was bigger than my baby,” he told the Sun.
Rhys says he requested a dehumidifier from housing association Places for People twice between October and December to no avail.
“I sent them evidence of my 83 per cent humidity levels but I never got anything,” he explained.
Rhys then forked out £700 to buy a dehumidifier and air purifier himself.
“I’m pulling 24 litres of water a day and we’ve lost 2 grand worth of stuff,” said the young dad.
The family have now been moved to temporary accommodation an hour away in Cromer, Norfolk, while they wait for the housing association to solve the problem.
It meant they spent Christmas away from loved ones.
He added: “It was the first one my mum would have spent with her grandson.”
Rhys informed the housing association he had contacted his local MP George Freeman – and told them he wanted to move.
He said they responded by eventually giving him two dehumidifiers.
ELECTRICITY BILL
Rhys’ torment was further compounded when he found his electricity bill was £627 in January, “because the dehumidifiers are there”.
Rhys said that the bill is usually £139.
He said: “It’s affected my credit rating, but I can’t shell out that much when I’m not there.
“The wall around the mould goes a grey watercolour. They’re on the windowsills up the walls, in our bedroom, in the nursery.”
Rhys explained that he didn’t notice the mould initially due to the bottom sheet and mattress protector.
“When we went to do a deep clean, it was absolutely covered,” he continued.
“It went through a waterproof fabric, through the wood, the mattress and back onto the mattress topper. That mould was bigger than the size of our baby. It was scary.”
The child was just four weeks old at the time.
Rhys took his son to the doctor after the baby when his vomit turned green.
“A week later we went back because his breathing was getting worse,” he explained.
“He had an awful cough and they said ‘we think it’s bronchitis’.”
Rhys said he showed the GP a picture of the mould in his home and they said “that’s why and he has developed RSV”.
He added: “My child is two months old and he’s not well.”
Prior to the move to Cromer, he said Places for People offered him temporary accommodation in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire – around two hours away.
“I said I’m not going to move my life to another county and back,” Rhys said.
He said the housing association has offered to compensate him for “everything damaged”, including clothes, the sofa and a mattress – but only if he “rips everything up first”.
The Sun has approached Places for People for comment.
Do you have a similar issue? Email nicole.cherruault@the-sun.co.uk