A teen mum says she fears for her ill baby as she is stuck living in a ' council house from hell' which is covered in mould. Darciann Fleary, 19, says she has been battling her local authority for over a year to try and get the issue resolved.
The young mum says her concerns over her home near Stoke-on-Trent were so severe she temporarily moved out of the house. She took son Felix with her to stay at the property of her mother, Jacqui Fleary.
However, the pair had to move back into the 'mouldy' council house as Jacqui downsized her home. The return back to the 'horrible' conditions in her two-bed maisonette has Darciann concerned, reports Stoke-on-Trent Live.
This is mainly due to the health problems Felix suffers from meaning he has already undergone heart surgery. The mother says her son also suffers with lung issues which resulted in him having to be on oxygen.
Darciann said: "Because Felix was on oxygen, we wanted somewhere safe for him. We thought it would be in his best interests to move in with my mum.
“I took most of my stuff to my mum's house. When we took everything, it was all covered in mould, his cot, bed, clothes, the majority of things were covered.
“A housing lady called and she said ‘We know your flat is unoccupied. You can either give it up, or you can move in and tackle the problems. If you decided not to move back in and decide not to use it, we’d have to force eviction.’
"I'm ashamed of my home and I'm tired of paying out to replace mould-damaged furniture."
After moving back into the council house, the teen replaced the damaged furniture. However, she says it was not long until the issues surrounding the mould arose once again.
Darciann said: “Everything is ruined. My little boy's cot is full of mould. The door is covered in mould, it’s rotting.
“When you’re with someone daily, you don’t notice things that other people notice. He went to my mum's the other day and she said Felix's chest is terrible, he’s got a lot of rubbish on his chest.
“I’m trying my hardest to make it safe for him. My mum sent me that little boy's story and it scared me. I'm a 19-year-old mum trying my hardest to give my son everything I can and I can’t at the minute.
“I’m a very house proud girl. It’s really getting me down, I can’t make it my home, every time I try it gets ruined. I just want to leave.”
The teen's mother Jacqui has also been trying to resolve the issues with the property by corresponding with Stoke-on-Trent City Council. She said: "In the end, it wasn’t feasible to live in such a small house.
"I rang the council daily to fix the mould. There was nothing done about it.
"They say they’d come out and nobody came out. Once they knocked on the door, I got up to go and answer it, and they were gone.
"They had not posted a letter through the door or anything.” Stoke-on-Trent City Council confirmed it was looking into the mould problem at the teenage mother's council house.
A spokesperson for the local authority said: "We are aware of the issues this tenant is facing and will continue to work with Unitas and the tenant to resolve the issues. Some remedial works have taken place, and a Housing Officer will continue to engage with the tenant.
"Following a recent visit to the property we have a plan in place to resolve the issues and over the next few weeks, the property will be plastered and a damp course added, we will then look at installing a specialised ventilation system."
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