Mum who ‘caught pneumonia 13 times’ in housing association property denied in bid to move

BY JAMES TWOMEY
james@slpmedia.co.uk

A mother who claims she has suffered from 13 bouts of pneumonia due to damp in her housing association home keeps getting her application to move rejected.

Nadine Richards, 40, has two children aged three and 15, and has not been able to live in her home in Agnew Road, Forest Hill due to the rising damp and mould growing there.

She has been moved to another property since June while Hyde Housing, the housing association responsible for the property, renovate the property in Agnew Road.

Ms Richards said she has applied to live elsewhere, but Hyde Housing keep rejecting her application.

Ms Richards has been complaining about the property since 2012 and said that she does not want to go back after it has been renovated.

“The last time they said they were fixing the house they just put MDF down and by December there was mould all over it from the front of the house to the back,” said Ms Richards.

“We don’t have any furniture or clothes. We’ve lost everything.

“Why should I take the risk of moving back there? My kids’ health and my health is worth more than that.

“To have caught pneumonia 13 times and still be here is a miracle. I don’t want to go back.

“My immune system is so weak. I’m so scared.”

Ms Richards and her 15-year -old son suffer from sickle cell disease – a condition that affects red blood cells and can cause blocked vessels – and she said her son’s problems began when they moved into the property.

Ms Richards also suffers from chronic back problems and asthma and has been in and out of the hospital every time she has caught pneumonia.

At least three doctors have written letters of concern over Ms Richards’ living conditions which say it has become dangerous for her to live there.

One doctor wrote: “I would strongly recommend Miss Richards and her family be moved with immediate effect to an accommodation with good hygienic standards, which should be free from damp, mould and drafts.”

Ms Richards said that mould spread all over the house forcing them to live in one room of the house and an insect infestation took over the flat as a result of the damp.

Mark Warren, responsive operations manager for Hyde, said: “Ms Nadine’s property needed repair works that required her to be decanted to temporary alternative accommodation whilst the said repair works were being undertaken.

“Consequently she was decanted to suitable alternative accommodation and the repair works have now been promptly and satisfactorily completed with the result that the tenant can now move back in.

Ms Nadine has also engaged the services of solicitor who are representing her in this matter and as such we cannot comment any further.”