Mum's concern children constantly ill after flat 'plagued' with mould in Cornwall

A mum-of-three says damp and mouldy conditions in her council house in Cornwall are making her children ill.

Jade Fargo says the conditions are so bad that she and her family are "nearly always poorly". She added that it is making her feel like "a failure".

The 32-year-old first moved into the flat, which is owned by Cornwall Housing, three years ago.

Since then, damp and mould have "plagues their lives" and Jade claims the housing association is not interested resolving the issues.

Jade and her partner's concern has increased after the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishakw in Rotherham which was caused by damp and mouldy conditions.

Jade has three daughters who are aged two, three and six and fears they could be in similar danger.

Jade said: "Our flat is full of mould to the point that we even have mould growing out of the plug sockets.

"Every time I phone [Cornwall Housing] I get fobbed off.

I had someone come out from Mouldex (a private company that deals with mould and condensation control) this week who told us the flat is completely unsafe, took a plug off and it was black and damp with mould.

"We've already had one electrical fire this year because of it.

"The council aren't doing anything to help us. They just keep referring us onto other departments that take another three working days or ten working days to contact us.

"I've got three kids aged two, three and six and a two-year-old boy in Rotherham has died because of the same problems we're having at the minute."We honestly can't live like this anymore. I've had to stop working completely because my asthma has got so bad.

"I've been eight months on the strongest inhalers I can have and steroid tablets every other month. My kids are constantly poorly with chesty coughs, especially the younger two."

Jade had to replace the carpets with linoleum this year which has destroyed her floor.

She said: "The mould had literally eaten the carpets, I had to replace our children's bunk bed because the mould had ruined their first one."

"It makes you feel awful. We do everything that we can and I get up an hour before the kids in the morning to clean the mould that has grown overnight.

"I unfortunately, can't work due to various health conditions, but I used to work full time and since I've not been unable to work it's unfortunately how we've ended up in social housing.

"It makes me feel like a failure because we can't afford to privately rent, but if we could, we might be able to get somewhere that wasn't mouldy. But that's not just an option for us."

A Cornwall Housing spokesperson said: “We, like everyone else, have been shocked to learn the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of Awaab Ishak and our hearts go out to his family.

“We take seriously our responsibilities as the landlord of more than 10,000 social homes across Cornwall.

"The health and safety of our tenants are our priority and as soon as we are made aware of an issue with damp and mould we will work with tenants to identify the cause and how to resolve the issue.

"We cannot comment on specific cases but are working with the tenant to address the concerns identified.

“Our longer-term aims include reviewing our housing stock to pick up on any early signs of damp using new technology in homes to monitor the level of water in the atmosphere and condensation levels.

"Any Cornwall Housing tenants concerned about mould and damp in their homes can contact the team on 0300 1234 161.”