“My disabled son is starting to develop health issues due to the damp in my house.”
Those are the words of a Dundee dad who has been fighting his absentee landlord for almost three years to repair the property he is in.
Wayne Bailey has shelled out thousands of pounds of his own money trying to get rid of mould which he says is affecting his children’s health.
But he claims he’s effectively trapped in an unsafe house where it’s difficult to breathe.
“My landlord got emphysema and he’s in quite a bad state,” he said.
“So he decided about two or three years ago to get rid of all his houses.
The landlord has pretty much checked out, he’s essentially abandoned us.”
Wayne Bailey.
“He tried to evict me to get us out because there was no other way to get me out because the council wouldn’t give me a house.
“But the council found a way to circumvent it because he hadn’t signed something right in the original contract.
“So he wasn’t able to get me to leave.
“Instead, he’s effectively ditched us and I don’t get any repairs or anything.
“I get a guy coming around to check the gas once a year and that is it. I do my own repairs.
“I’ve spent thousands and thousands of pounds doing my own repairs.”
He added: “I paid about £700 to have a guy come in and damp seal the wall twice and it’s already coming through.”
Abandoned by landlord
Wayne and his two disabled children share the house, which is riddled with damp, black mould, exposed water pipes and unsafe electrical wiring.
Despite this, the council say his home is “isn’t below tolerable standards”.
He added that he has also raised a complaint with Dundee City Council about the housing surveyor, after they were “condescending and argumentative” during the inspection.
Wayne himself also suffers from emphysema, worsened due to the dampness in the house.
“I can’t sleep in my bedroom very well because I end up not really being able to breath,” he said.
“I smoke so we’ve always been putting it down to that obviously.
“But the rooms have accelerated it and now my son is 16-years-old and he’s having the same problems.”
He added: “The landlord has pretty much checked out, he’s essentially ditched us.
“I don’t even have his number anymore.”
On council housing list
Wayne said he has now been on Dundee City Council’s housing list for over five years.
“I’ve got two disabled children that aren’t meant to be sharing a room,” he said.
“That was five years ago they got a letter from the doctors saying that.
“It started off that they weren’t able to share because they are both disabled.
“Now they shouldn’t be sharing because one of them is an adult. It’s gone on that long that he’s now 16 and still sharing a room.”
He added: “We’ve got letters from the doctors and schools, both saying the children must have their own rooms and the council hasn’t budged on that whatsoever.”
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “Given the information previously provided, we would urge Mr Bailey to contact our Lettings Centre to discuss any changes to his housing application or to review his situation.”
The Courier was unable to contact Wayne’s landlord.