‘Our health is getting worse’: Woman and children suffering in house full of mould
A woman living with two children in a flat riddled with mould has said their health is getting worse as her complaints are ignored.
Cheril Mitchell, 43, has been complaining to the housing association, Southern Housing, since 2018 about mould in her flat in Uffington Road, West Norwood.
She said: “I feel hurt and my children are hurt. They just keep coming to take pictures and I’m fed up. It’s not suitable for us to live here.
“My children’s health is getting worse – I’m not getting anywhere in life.”
Ms Mitchell lives with her son, Terry Mitchell, 17, and daughter Alisha Mitchell, 16.
She said that her son sleeps in the living room which is covered in mould and has started getting constant headaches.
Ms Mitchell and her daughter have both developed asthma since living in the flat.
She said: “We never had asthma before the mould and now it’s getting really really hard to breathe. My daughter is the same.”
Ms Mitchell’s medical surgery wrote a letter of consideration advising Southern Housing to remove her and her family from the property due to her persistent cough in 2017 and again in 2021 due to her eczema, asthma and back pain.
Living in a two-bedroom flat, Ms Mitchell said the family feel overcrowded. She is currently bidding to rent a different property with Lambeth council but said she has got nowhere.
She said: “My son needs his own space. A front room is not suitable for a child to live in.
“My daughter and my son are not happy
“My daughter is tearful and tells me that they need to leave.
“They are telling me they don’t want to live here but I don’t know what to do. They are children, they should not have to go through this.”
A spokesman for Southern Housing said: “Our maintenance surveyor attended Ms Mitchell’s home on September 1 and carried out a full damp survey.
“However, Ms Mitchell has since refused access to her home for our contractors and operatives to complete any work.
“If Ms Mitchell can let us know of any issues with the appointments we’re making, we’ll do everything we can to accommodate her needs.”
Pictured top: Cheril Mitchell and the mould in her house (Picture: Cheril Mitchell)
