A West Belfast man says residents in Fort Street, Forest Street and Forfar Street are coming together to try and get something done about chronic mould and dampness in their homes.
Sean Doherty said he has spoken to 66 residents and there are 20 households where one of multiple people – including children – in the house are suffering with asthma.
Sean showed Belfast Live his own home, where black mould was a problem in several rooms and said he is worried for his own children's health and others.
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His home is a Housing Executive property and Sean said he is now helping to lead a collective response from residents in the area to try and get something done.
The streets are a mix of private rentals, Housing Executive homes and privately owned homes.
Sean said: "At one point I was like, 'I couldn't be by myself here, there has to be dampness in all these houses'.
"I have spoken to 66 residents so far, every one of them has issues with dampness, most have issues with slugs coming into their home. There are 20 houses in which one or several people, including children, suffer from chest issues or asthma.
"Whenever I discovered that I was sort of looking into how could we be starting to put pressure on that there and highlighting the need for safer homes, warmer homes and hopefully a redevelopment.
"The support we're getting from all the residents, because it's residents-led, is outstanding."
The 33-year-old said the residents have been speaking to MLAs and councillors in a bid to address the situation, with the health of the area's children the chief concern.
He hopes that a collective effort can help to either have the houses redeveloped or to have more of a response to the resident's concerns over the health implications of living there.
In his own house, Sean has had to move his three-year-old boy and two-year-old girl out of their bedroom and into his, as the mould problem has become so pronounced.
"That's what I'm worried about, my wee girl has been having a bit of a cough over the last few months.
"There's a woman who's part of the campaign and her wee girl is coughing every day.
"There's actually a resident who made contact with her that used to live in one of these streets, and actually said to us they've been out of here five years and only a couple of months after moving out, the sickness went away from their child.
"That's worrying, what is it we're breathing in?
"You see the case with the toddler in England who died with the black mould – is that going to happen to one of our kids here?"
The houses on Fort Street are made up of some of the old Mackie's workers' homes and Sean said the plumbing for them was outdated, meaning that sewage was getting backed up and clogged drains.
He said that was particularly bad in the summer, but right now, the problem was the cost of trying to stave off the damp and mould inside the house.
"I think I speak for everybody in the street whenever we talk about how much money on gas and electric is being used to heat our homes, it's not on," he added.
"And at the minute, the gas is through the roof, that's what's making us all struggle here.
"We're constantly trying to dry the houses out, but once you turn the heating off, it's turning into an icebox and that's every house here.
"It's every few weeks when it builds up again."
Sean is calling on those in power to put policies in place to ensure the houses are developed to the extent where mould and unhealthy living conditions are not an issue.
"I'm on the breadline myself here as well and I'm not the only one," he said.
"Having that worry of not being able to heat the house, or if you don't have the money to heat the house.
"That's how we will fall sick or our kids, because we're not getting the heat into our body or we're not getting the proper living conditions."
The Housing Executive said it had attended Sean's property and that a damp survey would have to be carried out.
"Work to install a new inspection chamber in the drainage system has also been organised," a spokesperson said.
"Any issues raised by the survey will be resolved as quickly as possible. A minor issue with a window will also be addressed.
“Our priority is always to ensure that our tenants live in safe, warm and dry homes.
"We ask tenants to report suspected cases of damp and mould in their homes to us immediately so we can determine the cause and take remedial action.
"We take this issue very seriously and inspect any report we receive as a priority, with a maintenance officer inspecting each report of damp, mould or condensation."
The spokesperson said the Housing Executive also collates information about damp and mould through its own surveys.
"When there is a one-off issue, specific to an individual property, then it will most likely be addressed through our response repair service," they added.
"Over the last five years, we received a total of 1.6 million repair requests (excluding heating repairs), of which 26,000 mentioned issues with condensation or damp.
"If there is a cluster of reports in a particular location, then we will address these through a planned maintenance scheme.
"These works comprise of improved ventilation, insulation and heating.
"We always liaise with our tenants to address their concerns and advice and guidance is also available on our website and our tenant portal."
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