Complaints about mould are flooding into Dundee City Council as tenants fear they may suffer long-term illness.
New figures reveal 3,076 such complaints have been made to the local authority between April 2017 and March this year.
One Dundee dad says damp and black mould in his council home has made his children ill, while another complainant says she has been waiting a year for help.
Stephen Reilly says his children, aged eight and four, suffer from asthma and constant chest infections which he believes is caused by the damp and mould in their council flat in Menzieshill.
Stephen said: “I reported the issues in my flat to the council on numerous occasions.
“Eventually workmen came a few weeks ago and basically painted over the black mould.
Mould ‘painted over’
“Nothing was done to get rid of the problem. Painting over it won’t make it go away and it will just come back again.”
“I and my children have had serious health issues due to this.
“The children have asthma and croup and we have all had one continuous chest infection.
“Surely this can’t be allowed to continue.”
Catherine Stewart, 70, says her dream retirement home turned into a nightmare when she was forced to throw out many household appliances and clothes because they were ruined by damp.
Catherine, who lives in Whorterbank, Lochee said: “I moved in to my house 17 months ago.
Water ‘running down the walls’
“Soon after I realised there was green and black mould and water running down the walls.
“I told the council about this but I’m still waiting for something to be done. They emailed me last month but that basically tells me nothing.
“It doesn’t give me any clue about a date for when the job will be carried out nor does it state the name of anyone I can contact for help.
“This is having an affect now on both my physical and mental health. I keep trying to make my home look nice but the damp and mould destroys everything.”
Horror stories
Lochee councillor Charlie Malone says he is regularly contacted by constituents, all with horror stories about mouldy and damp homes.
Mr Malone said: “I am increasingly concerned about the living conditions of many constituents who have reported the situation of damp, in some cases impacting on health.
“I have discussed this with senior officers who are aware that it is a problem across the city.
“It’s clear that there needs to be a review of the situation leading to finding resources for solutions. Some of the cases I have reported are simply appalling.”
Contact your councillor
The council’s housing convener, Anne Rendall, said she is aware there are damp and mould issues in some homes in the city.
She said: “Some of our council houses are very old. Some had their cladding upgraded, which helped, but some of the older ones do suffer from problems.
“We would need to look at specific issues and try to work out what the contributing factors are.
“If tenants have problems they should contact their own councillors and ask them to take it on.
“People can also contact me as housing convener to look into specific issues and I will have them looked at again.”
