A grandmother in Perth has spoken out on the living conditions in a city flat rented from the local council.
Helen Osbourne, 67, shared her disgust after having to visit her daughter's Stormont Street flat daily to empty buckets of water fallen from the ceiling. Helen says her daughter, Tanisha Fraser, is allergic to mould and has a five-year-old son with asthma.
A council officer who recently visited the flat said work will be carried out upstairs to find the source of the water, reports the Daily Record.
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But with mushrooms growing out of the bathroom walls, four out of five rooms “blistered and mottled and black with mould” Tanisha, a night-shift worker, has had to move out for her safety and that of her boy.
The wet and mould was in the child’s bedroom and trapped inside a false ceiling. The grandmother said part of the hall ceiling was “pure black” with extensive mould blooms.
She described her daughter’s home as “horrendous”. Last week Mrs Osbourne was so upset at the lack of action on a long-term problem that the authority was aware of, that she had pictures of the damp damage printed up big and stood outside the council building at 2 High Street in protest at the delay in addressing the wet flat.
Despite the council being aware of the problem allegedly for the past year, until the Perthshire Advertiser got involved there had been no indication when her accommodation will be repaired. The concrete flat is soaked with walls, floors and ceiling wet.
The Perthshire Advertiser saw bare lighting wires in the same place as moisture ingress. So much water is coming in that a bucket catching drips must be emptied down the drain daily.
Helen Osbourne and husband William have to go in every day to empty what’s accumulated overnight. “It is horrendous. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Helen.
“The whole place, this flat and the one above is concrete. It’s filled with water like a sponge and the damp can’t get out.
“If we didn’t empty buckets catching drips, the place would be even worse. Everything’s crumbling. It makes me sick.”
Work began on Monday on the flat above Tanisha. A PKC spokesperson said: “Our tenants’ health and wellbeing is very important to us, and we would like to apologise to our tenant for the upset and distress caused by this leak.
“Unfortunately, there was a delay into investigating the leak and carrying out repairs. This was due to difficulties in gaining access to the property above our tenant where the leak was coming from.
“We offered our tenant suitable temporary accommodation, and she has moved out while the leak is repaired and her property is fully reinstated.
“This work is already underway and will be carried out as quickly as possible so the tenant can return. Our Housing Repairs Service always aims to carry out emergency repairs as quickly as we can and takes a very proactive approach to dealing with such repairs when they arise.
“We have been recognised as sector leading in this area. Last year the average time it took for us to complete emergency repairs was four hours - well within our statutory obligation of 24 hours.
“In this case, a speedy resolution was not possible because of the particular circumstances we faced regarding gaining access to the property above our tenant to resolve the main source of the leak.”
