A MUM from South Ham is requesting her housing association to remove mould from her flat following concerns for the health of her son who is on full-time Oxygen support.
Marnie Greenland-Jones, 26, said her six-year-old son has severe lung conditions, but her housing provider Sovereign Housing Association is taking forever to fix the problems despite a number of requests from her.
Marnie, who is a full-time carer for her son Elliot, said their house is covered in mould, and it has even spread to the little boy’s medical supplies cupboard.
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Elliot, who goes to a special needs school called Saxon Wood in Rooksdown, has already had to go through two medically induced comas because he caught a common cold.
“My son’s health needs are not being taken into consideration,” Marnie said.
“When I was pregnant with him I was told he was not going to live. I have nearly got him to the age of six now. If this mould affects his chest, he will be hospitalised.
“They are not just taking him seriously and it seems like they just don’t care. It is really difficult for me and my partner, who also is severely asthmatic.”
Marnie said moved into this two-bedroom ground-floor flat in November 2017.
The mould first showed up in their house just after September last year. Although Marnie tried to remove it herself using cleaning materials it kept coming back.
She said it started getting really bad by the beginning of November.
“It’s literally just everywhere now,” she said.
“It’s in most rooms and covering every single one of my windowsills. As it stands now, the worst places are my entire kitchen. My son has less than a couple of square feet space in the reception area to play and keep his stuff because there is mould everywhere else.”
Marnie said a mould specialist from Sovereign already assessed the situation and said it has to be removed quickly. However, the date the housing provider has given is March 28.
“I am really stressed,” she said.
“I have rung Sovereign every single day since the mould specialist visited to tell them the condition of my son. I have got supporting letters from all of my son’s professionals, which Sovereign are aware of. But they are not taking us seriously. I ring them every day, and I get the same conversation.”
Luke Bingham, Housing Director for Sovereign, said: “Firstly I’d like to apologise, Marnie is right. After our initial visit on 24 January, we should’ve organised for work to start within ten days.
"In this instance, given that Elliot requires full time oxygen support and taking into account Marnie’s concerns about her partner’s health, we should also have carried out a mould treatment immediately. I’m pleased to say that we’ve been in touch and agreed that work can start today, February 7. We’re also investigating the cause of the problem in order to provide an effective long-term solution.”
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