Mouldy, damp and dangerous housing is a 'major health issue' in Liverpool.
That's the view of city MP Kim Johnson, who has spoken out after the ECHO published shocking images of a mould-infested flat in the Dingle area of her constituency. We highlighted the grim conditions of Gerard Francis's home in Wellington Road, which is owned by the Torus housing association.
Mr Francis suffers from severe depression and rheumatoid arthritis and said the horrific conditions inside his flat are making both conditions worse.
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Ms Johnson, who represents the Riverside constituency said she has now written to Torus over the state of the property and asked for a meeting with its bosses.
She said: "It is just horrendous. We have seen lots of other pictures similar to the ones in the ECHO that show that we have a real issue with housing association properties.
"Many of these are really old properties that have not been properly maintained and are now very difficult to retrofit or repair. This is now a major issue in Liverpool and a major health issue for the city."
"Liverpool already has health inequality issues and specific problems with respiratory illnesses. Those conditions will only be made worse by living in cold, damp and mouldy homes."
Ms Johnson said that as well as meeting Torus bosses, she would like to meet the leadership teams from other housing associations as well to discuss what she believes is an increasingly worrying issue in the city.
She said: "Immediate action is needed on this. Given recent figures today of a 4.2m waiting list for social housing, 310,000 children sharing beds with parents or siblings because of overcrowding, ongoing high energy and food costs, it's a situation that looks likely to get worse."
Speaking about his house and the impact it is having on him, Gerard said: "I used to be really proud of the house, I had everything decorated really nicely but now I'm just embarrassed. I don't ever want to bring anyone to my house, not even my closest friends.
"I don't want to be here. I have been living at my sister's or my mums.
"I'm currently taking extra-strong anti-depressants as well as strong painkillers for my rheumatoid arthritis and this is just making everything worse. I don't want to sit in this house and let it make me sick. I hate being here. I'm terrified of what I'm breathing in. You can't have any happiness in a place like this."
In a response to questions from the ECHO, Kevin Clifford, Torus head of maintenance, said: "We take all repair and maintenance reports extremely seriously and apologise to the customer that on this occasion the repairs have not progressed as quickly as we would have liked.
“Please be assured that we are continuing to work closely with the customer and his family to resolve the issue. Alternative, temporary accommodation has previously been offered so works can be carried out, a surveyor has revisited the property this morning with the customer.
"The customer still does not wish to move out whilst the work is completed, but a full programme of repairs has been raised, to be completed as soon as possible. In the interim, we have arranged a fungi wash, which kills and inhibits the growth of mould, preventing immediate re-growth.
“We are continuing to attempt to gain access to the upstairs property which we believe is the source of the leak, including looking to legally force access tomorrow to carry out emergency essential works to isolate the leak.
“Anyone looking for a move from their existing home, would need to go through Property Pool Plus (PPP) in line with Liverpool Council’s Allocation Policy. The customer will continue to be supported by his Neighbourhood Officer to ensure his PPP application is updated to bid on homes should he wish to pursue a permanent move, they will remain in contact and keep him updated on progress throughout the process. The offer for a move into temporary accommodation remains open, should the customer change their mind.
“We encourage customers to contact us to report issues, so we can look to act as quickly as possible and to resolve issues to their satisfaction.”
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