PICTURES: Desperate plea for help from pregnant Thurso mum with disabled daughter over damp house nightmare
A young pregnant Thurso mum with asthma and a disabled daughter is pleading with her social housing provider to sort out the chronic dampness in her flat.
Nicole Gunn (22) is a single-parent living with her two-year-old daughter Amelia at her Cairn Housing Association (CHA) flat on Janet Street.
She says she is at her wit’s end with the property provider to get the worsening damp mould issue sorted.
“Since the mould’s got worse, I’ve had to go back to the doctor to get a review and get more inhalers,” said Nicole.
“I’ve been here just over four years but it’s got really bad over the last few months with the cold weather and the mould seems to be growing. Cairn Housing came to look at it last month and didn’t say much about it. I’ve been trying to redecorate the bedroom but there’s not much point as the mould will wreck it.”
Nicole pointed out how her daughter Amelia is registered as disabled and wears special implants as she is profoundly deaf. “About a month-and-a-half ago she had a seizure but they don’t really know what caused it. She was unconscious for over an hour,” added the distraught mum.
She says that the housing provider paid visits to try and fix the ongoing issues but the mould would eventually reappear after a few months. “They basically said it was my fault for not ventilating and heating the place properly. My heaters are on all day and night and the windows are open for half-an-hour every day which I’ve been told to do.”
When the John O’Groat Journal visited, the flat was very warm and it appeared that measures had been taken by the young mum to combat the mould.
Nicole showed an area on the stairway leading to her flat where water could be seen dripping down a large expanse of the wall. She shared a picture on her phone of a friend holding a specialist moisture meter against the wall with a 58 per cent reading on the display – a reading of more than 20-24 per cent in plaster indicates the likelihood of some free water and anything over 27 per cent is considered high and needing immediate treatment.
“I’m pregnant and asthmatic, have a daughter with additional needs and been told it’s basically my problem and I need to sort it out. I’ve been told by some amount of people that have problems with Cairn Housing and mould. But it’s just getting to the point where I’m sick of having it and it’s getting worse and will continue to get worse if nothing is done.
“When my daughter burnt her hand on the heater they admitted fault and were quick to sort the problem then.”
Nicole said the smoke alarm on the stairway was “going off for an hour straight” and then intermittently. She called CHA and an electrician came out and told her the dampness was affecting it so he moved the alarm to the top of the stairs.
“He said it’s dangerous and the dampness needs sorted but he’s gonna do a report and try get them to sort the dampness as it’s not good for the electrics.”
Matthew Reiss, councillor for Thurso and Northwest Caithness, knew about the issue and said: “I have tried to assist Nicole by speaking with the maintenance officer from Cairn, who was very helpful. Hopefully, a solution can be found for her.”
The housing provider was contacted and a CHA spokesperson said: “Cairn takes reports of damp, mould, and condensation very seriously.
“Our housing and maintenance teams have been in regular contact with Ms Gunn over several weeks to offer practical advice and support as well as investigate the cause of the issues she’s experiencing. This contact will continue with a joint visit from our housing and maintenance managers.
“Given there are young children in the household, we are investigating a move to alternative accommodation while the property is fully assessed.
“Along with our energy advice partner, Changeworks, our in-house benefits advice service has been referred to Ms Gunn, to ensure that she is receiving the financial support she is entitled to.
“At Cairn, we are committed to maintaining safe, warm, healthy homes for all of our tenants, and we encourage anyone with concerns about damp, mould, or condensation to get in touch so that we can help.”
Nicole has seen positive moves after we contacted CHA and within a couple of days, the social housing provider had put the wheels in motion to find a solution to the issue.
The young mum was given a dehumidifier and she says that a builder is coming out to check the roof. “No one has mentioned anything about moving me somewhere while they do something.
“They have been pretty good since the fire alarms have gone off, given me £30 for my electric, given me a dehumidifier, put in two things for ventilation for the stairs and they’re putting a new heater in tomorrow in the stairs.”
When asked if she felt the newspaper had helped with the longstanding issues, Nicole replied, “100 per cent”.
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