A Co Down mum has been left sleeping on her living room sofa for months due to mould and damp issues at her home.
Taylor Martin moved into a two-bed flat in Newtownards with her partner and two-year-old daughter a year ago. Hoping for a "fresh start", their dreams were soon shattered.
Now, they're at a loss about what to do, as they're too embarrassed to even have friends and family visiting due to the poor conditions they're living in.
The conditions have left the family feeling unwell for months, with coughs and flu-like symptoms brought on by the damp and mould.
"When we moved in we thought happy days this is a fresh start for us. But it's been so bad, it's embarrassing even having friends around," Taylor told Belfast Live.
"I was scrubbing the mould every day and it just kept growing back. I'm worrying about the wee one every night as her cough is still bad - it's just a lot of stress.
"When we moved in, the place was disgusting from top to bottom, it was covered in damp and mould. I was ringing the Housing Executive for about six months, non-stop, every day and I was getting nothing.
"They finally listened to me, and came out about three weeks ago to spray the mould on the walls, and opened the windows. When they left they told my partner and I we should keep sleeping on the sofa as the mould will keep coming back. I asked if they expected us to just keep sleeping on the sofa the whole time? It's a bit of a joke. I was beside myself, I didn't know what to do."
The extent of the mould means the family have to keep buying new clothes, and had to replace their mattress due to the damp.
Taylor added that they have been living in a "nightmare" as her bedroom wall was completely overrun with black mould.
She said: "It started going up the wall and around the bed - it was making us really sick. It affects more things than you think. As we're sleeping on the sofa, our backs are always aching, we're not really getting a routine. Everything's just a bit crazy at the moment.
"I just want to be proud of my house, to have my friends and family in. It's bringing me down a lot. It's got to the stage where I feel like I'm disgusting because I'm having to live in it."
As her daughter's cough keeps returning, Taylor said she tries her best to keep her out of the house during the day while her partner is at work.
"We notice our chests get really bad and tighten up if we're in the house too much," she added.
"I thought I had a flu for months, it was really bad, but it was just the house. The doctors were really confused about what was wrong with the wee one, as her coughing was only happening when she was going to bed. She used to sleep in beside us, and I said there was mould and damp in the house, they put her on antibiotics, but it just kept coming back.
"My wee one's room isn't too bad, we have the heaters and all in there too because of the damp. We wake up in the morning and we would see our own breath because the house is that cold and damp. I waste a lot of money on heating as well.
"I'm at the point where I'm just angry. There's not many options for us anymore."
A spokesperson for the Housing Executive said: “Our staff visited this property before Christmas and used treatments to eradicate mould on site.
“We also commissioned a report which recommended we install new thermal plasterboard to provide a longer term solution to the issues at the property.
“This will be fitted in the coming weeks and a full inspection will then take place.
“Meanwhile, we will continue to liaise with our tenants and monitor any issues they may have.”
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