A family-of-six stuck in a mouldy two bed council flat say they 'feel forgotten' and slammed Fife council for their lack of action.
Mum Victoria Pirie, 25, lives in the Kirkcaldy home with her fiancé Dylan Mcilwee, 22, their two-year-old daughter Alaia, Dylan's father Charles, 66, sister Sophie, 19, and her partner.
The family branded the flat a "health hazard" and say they are suffering from 'unbearable' mould and intense overcrowding.
But despite raising concerns over the health of little Alaia and Charles to the local authority, the claim their pleas have gone unanswered.
Victoria said: “We have reported all of the problems with the flat multiple times to our housing officer and it takes him months to respond.
“We have texted, emailed, sent pictures, and called the officer repeatedly to the point that it feels like we are hounding them – the mould in the house is now unbearable and there is also a hole in the bathroom floor that has been there for over eight years.”
Dylan, Victoria’s partner, added that the flat is a health hazard as even the bath is not attached to the wall properly.
“The bath shakes as it isn’t secured properly, and my daughter could easily fall in the hole in the bathroom and hurt herself as it goes all the way into our downstairs neighbour’s flat.” He added.
“Alaia always has a cough and seems to be unwell quite a lot which I put down to the amount of black mould in the flat and my dad doesn’t keep well either – something has to be done about this before someone becomes seriously ill.”
The family contacted local MSP David Torrance for help but the politician says he has been swamped with pleas for assistance from worried tenants after the tragic death of a toddler in England that was ruled to have been caused by mould.
Awaab Ishak, from Rochdale, died in 2020 from a respiratory condition that was caused by exposure to mould in his home even after his family repeatedly raised the issue with their housing association, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing.
David said he visited several of his constituents in Fife Council properties and said he was “disgusted” at the dilapidation of the houses due to neglect from the local authority.
As well as dangerous black mould, many council properties are also plagued by various states of disrepair which range from dampness to dangerous holes in the floor.
Mum-of-two Katy Buchanan, 26, who lives in Kirkcaldy, says her two young children are perpetually unwell from living in a damp and mouldy house.
Katy, who receives Universal Credit, has been unable to replace furniture destroyed by the mould and said the whole family is on medication to ease respiratory and skin conditions.
She said: “The whole situation is not only making myself unwell with all of the stress but my kids are also suffering due to the constant dampness and mould – they have been absent from school due to illness related to the mould for around 130 days each last year.
“My kids are constantly coming down with the cold and flu, and we have all had issues with itchy skin due to the mould with us being prescribed antihistamines to try to help with the itchiness.
“There seems to be no end to this nightmare, I’m at the end of my tether and the situation is really affecting my and my kid’s mental health – I just don’t know what to do.”
Kirkcaldy MSP David said: “I am shocked and disgusted by the level of disrepair in many of my constituents’ council properties.
“The amount of black mould and damp among other issues that I have seen in these properties is totally unacceptable and, in my opinion, leaves these homes uninhabitable.
“As well as the issue with mould and dampness, many of these houses are falling apart with roofs coming away from walls and holes in upstairs flat floors leaving neighbours able to look down into the flat below.
“Fife Council have set the wheels in motion to address the mould issue, but these plans will not be put in place until April at the earliest which might be too late for many vulnerable people – the lack of action from the local authority is quite worrying.”
A spokesperson for Fife Council said: "Fife Council is committed to improving the way it tackles dampness/condensation and black mould within its housing stock.
"The Council is looking at all outstanding complaints where black mould is a problem for tenants and taking action on a case by case basis to help tenants and deal with this problem. A dedicated staff team will be setup to manage this work. Staff re-training is taking place and comprehensive information will be provided to all tenants by March. "
Councillor Judy Hamilton, Housing & Building Services Spokesperson added: "The Council is determined that we take action to ensure that this issue is tackled effectively in Fife.
"I am working closely with the Housing Service to move this forward and I am certain that we can improve the living condition of our tenants who are living with dampness and condensation.
"Everyone in Fife has the right to live in decent, dry and affordable housing and I am determined that this should be the case for tenants affected by this problem.
“I’m happy to meet with David Torrance to discuss any individual concerns.”
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