Arthritic woman forced out of bedroom after it becomes 'covered from top to bottom in black mould'

A man has claimed that he has been forced to sleep on the sofa to help his mother escape her mould in her bedroom.

Nicola Dixon, from Thornaby, has had to move into her son's bedroom to get away from mould on the walls, mattresses and curtains in her bedroom. Her son is now sleeping on the sofa in the living room.

Ms Dixon says that she has had pneumonia seven times while living at her home, which she has lived in for over 20 years.

Her son, who wished to remain nameless, said: "We've lived in this house since I was born. My mam is nearly 50 and she has lived here for 22 years.

"For the last five to six years we have had mould and damp really bad all over the house. We've been in touch with Thirteen - sometimes I was ringing them four times a day - to come out.

He added: "They have come out and put some paint on and now it just keeps getting worse and worse.

"It is covered from top to bottom in black mould and damp. I'm currently staying in the living room on the settee because it's that bad.

"It's been that bad now for the last two or three years. They came out last year and painted over it and now it has come back a million times worse."

He first noticed the scale of the issue when he pulled the drawers out and found the mould crawling up the wall.

He said the situation is made worse because his mother spends "every last bit of her time in the house" due to suffering from arthritis.

As a result, they say they have had to get rid of a number of items.

He said: "What we have had to do is chuck my mum's bed out, because all the mattress has gone mouldy off it, we've had to chuck all the drawers out.

"She's even had to throw three bags of clothes out - she's got two bags of clothes left out of about eight bags. She's now going to have to buy new drawers, and a new mattress for her bed, she has already had to repair the curtains and obviously her clothes.

"As soon as I saw it all - because I don't really go in my mum's room, so I only really noticed it was that bad about two weeks ago - I said: 'look mam you are going to need to get out of here'."

"We want accommodating until this is sorted."

The 20-year-old said he contacted housing association Thirteen about the issue and sent in pictures. His mother's bedroom now remains empty - except for a bed, wardrobe, and little bedside cabinet.

Thirteen’s executive director of customer services, David Ripley said: "We want customers to feel safe and comfortable in their homes. We know damp and mould can significantly impact a customer's wellbeing and how they feel about their home.

"We take each report very seriously and are committed to working closely with customers to resolve issues and complete the necessary work. We're very sorry Miss Nixon has been experiencing these issues, and we are working hard to resolve them as quickly as possible."

He added: "Following reports of damp and mould in December, we immediately made an appointment to assess the property for the first week in January. The assessment identified work needed to insulate the eves and repairs to the roof.

"We completed the repairs the same week, but unfortunately, the customer wouldn't allow us to remove the damp and mould at this stage. This week, a surveyor visited the property.

"Following this, we're arranging for further ventilation improvements and underlying insulation work to be completed on the property over the coming weeks. In the meantime, it’s been agreed that we can go ahead and carry out an interim clean of the damp and mould.

"An interim clean allows us to remove the damp and mould while we are continuing to identify the cause. Due to the nature of the work, we're currently working with Miss Nixon to identify a suitable alternative Thirteen property to offer them while the work is completed.

"We're here to support our customers, and if they're concerned about damp and mould or anything in their home, we encourage them to speak to us so we can help."

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