A retired NHS nurse with severe asthma said she feels “abandoned” with black mould in her Kinross home.
Nan Sutherland, 62, said she has been living in a damp and mouldy house since the end of 2018, with problems arising just weeks after she moved in.
Since then, she has been in touch with developers Persimmon Homes numerous times without success.
Ms Sutherland began treatment for bowel cancer shortly after the damp appeared in her new-build Lathro Meadows home but still nobody came to help.
Eventually Persimmon responded to her pleas but by then the country was in lockdown and nobody came to fix the problems.
All the time, more and more damp was appearing, particularly on her kitchen ceiling.
Last summer, when restrictions eased, Persimmon finally sent workers who tore up the bathroom floor and discovered black mould, where the toilet had been leaking into her ceiling for months.
The Persimmon workers treated the mould and replaced the floorboard. However, they did not replace the lino, so she had no flooring in her bathroom for the entire second lockdown.
After numerous calls, workers eventually returned to replace the flooring.
Distressed
Ms Sutherland, who bought the new-build to enjoy her retirement in, said the ordeal was more distressing than her cancer diagnosis.
“I just wanted to buy a nice house to retire in,” she said.
“I’ve worked for the NHS as a mental health nurse and I’ve paid my dues.
“Now I just want to relax and visit my grandchildren, but this whole thing has left me tearful with low moods.”
Despite the repair work, soon afterwards a second damp patch appeared in her living room – this time with black mould.
“They’ve just abandoned the entire situation,” said Ms Sutherland.
Help
Ms Sutherland said Persimmon continued to ignore her calls for help, so she reached out to her MSP Roseanna Cunningham who she said was “fantastic”.
Ms Cunningham, who has since retired, wrote a letter to the managing director of Persimmon and they responded confirming receipt but a formal response was never received.
Persimmon last contacted Ms Sutherland two weeks ago and promised a joiner would be in attendance with little notice. She asked to reschedule and only heard back with a new date when The Courier contacted the company.
Lathro Meadows has been plagued with problems since the estate was completed.
Other residents have also complained of black mould, drainage problems, crumbling concrete walls, and the poor state of the roads.
Earlier this week Persimmon admitted liability for drainage problems at the development and pledged to fix the issues.
It comes after drains were overflowing and raw sewage had to be pumped from the site.
Apology
A spokesperson for Persimmon Homes said: “We apologise for the inconvenience caused to our customer and are committed to resolving the issue in a timely manner.
“We have already attended the property and believed we had fixed the leak as well as made good the damage.
“We were sorry to hear there had been a recurrence and have already agreed to investigate the issue and carry out any necessary repair.”