Gemma Hotchkiss sits in the living room where her ceiling 'cracks and bubbles'. She says she had to have her carpet taken out because it was damp, and the floor that's left is a hazard for a young mum-of-two with health issues, two years on from a major operation that 'failed'.
The 29-year-old breaks down. "It frustrates me," she tells the Manchester Evening News . "Because I'm trying to make a home for my children whilst recovering, and I can't do it anymore.
"I physically can't do it, and it's embarrassing having people round, because it's not done to how I like it. In the summer I get people to walk through the side gate and not the house, because I'm embarrassed. And they just expect you to live."
READ MORE: Awaab's Law: Change is already happening - but there is so much more to do
The tragic death of Awaab Ishak has cast a shadow over Greater Manchester. Two-year-old Awaab died after prolonged exposure to mould at his family's home on a Rochdale social housing estate, with the housing association in charge being slammed for the way it dealt with the issue.
Yet while Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) has been condemned for its failings with damp, mould and the way it responds to complaints, its tenants are not the only ones who have suffered. Since breaking the news of Awaab's death in the summer, several more social housing residents have contacted the Manchester Evening News regarding issues at their homes.
With the spotlight having been fixed on Rochdale, the M.E.N. headed east to Tameside to see how residents were dealing with issues in their homes. The properties are all owned and managed by Jigsaw Homes Group, which formed following a merger back in 2018 involving New Charter, the social landlord which took on Tameside Council's housing stock in 2000.
It is a housing association with more than 36,000 homes. Jigsaw Homes says it has carried out more than 2,000 repairs for damp and mould in the past year, and hundreds more repairs are on the way.
Speaking to tenants in Hyde, Denton and Dukinfield, not all complaints were to do with damp and mould - others were about general disrepair. But the toll the situation has taken on their mental health is stark.
"If I didn't have kids I wouldn't be here," said Gemma, who says she has spent thousands in constant 'whack-a-mole' type attempts to deal with issues in her Denton home. "I can't deal with it."
When she moved into her home a decade ago, Gemma says she had to repaint her walls and replace her skirting boards because of damp, while she had to get rid of half her corner sofa due to mould. Her bathroom also suffers with mould - though she uses her extractor fan and says she opens her window as much as possible - and she spends £10 a week on refills for moisture collectors in her home.
But the key problem affecting Gemma is her flooring, which is uneven - leaving her washing machine and cooker on a slant in the kitchen. Gemma, who lives with her nine-year-old daughter Amelia and three-year-old son Oliver, suffers with fibromyalgia and complications following a major operation in 2020 - affecting her mobility.
An agreement is in place for the flooring repairs to take place, but Gemma says she will need to move out of the property while the work goes ahead. It's understood this is to take place in the new year, but Gemma fears that it will simply be a waiting game for the next thing to go wrong in a house which has been plagued with issues.
Gemma added: "The amount of times when I've just wanted to walk out the door and never come back, because I get one room done, it looks really nice, and then something happens and ruins it all. And I have to re-do the whole thing, all over again, spend money I haven't got, getting into debt to fix the house."
Down the road in Hyde, a row of properties has an 'ongoing issue with mould' according to one tenant. Adrian Turnell says he has rented from New Charter and Jigsaw for almost a decade, initially at Newton Hall Court before moving to Rydal Avenue.
The 45-year-old says he has to clean mould off his door and windows every day. Adrian mentions a neighbour who has 'black mould all over her ceiling', but she was unavailable when the M.E.N. visited the estate earlier this month. Adrian keeps his window open when showering and uses the extractor fan, but says he has been blamed for the problem at his home.
"I’m trying to fight this condensation," said Adrian. "They tell me I create the moisture, but I don’t create that much. Their attitude towards damp - they come and have a look, they try and say it’s your own fault, it’s the condensation you are creating.”
There is a stark concern about the impact mould is having on the health of tenants along the street. Melissa Kelly, 25, has three young daughters - Neveen, four, Nova, three, and four-month-old Savannah.
The family have lived at the property for two years, and in that time Melissa says her children have been 'constantly poorly'. Nova, who uses an inhaler, coughed on a number of occasions as the M.E.N. visited the home - while little Savannah has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, leaving her mum fearful of any health scare on the baby.
Their bathroom is affected by mould in the shower cubicle, on the ceiling and on pipes. Melissa also points out mould on her furniture, and says she had to have the carpets taken out because of damp.
Her two eldest children had been moved from the second bedroom to the master, because of mould in the smaller room and the size of it, while Melissa had begun sleeping in the living room near to Savannah's cot. " Everywhere I take them the mould is following them," she said.
" I’m constantly trying to clean it off but I can only do so much. I’m trying to making it a home for my kids and I just can’t. It’s hard enough anyway with the kids.”
Like some of the families on Awaab's estate who spoke to the M.E.N. in the summer, Melissa says she had received a letter from her GP raising concerns about the flat. She has also been fearful of her children falling through the living room window, which has a gap and moves when pushed.
Fortunately, between the M.E.N. 's visit and approaching Jigsaw Homes Group for comment last week, it was agreed for Melissa to move to another property. But there are others on her street living in similar conditions with damp and mould.
Husna Humaira, 47, lives in a crowded one-bedroom property with her husband Dewan Raja, 37, their three-year-old son Ismail, and her 83-year-old mum Jolika Begum. There are mould issues at the entrance to the property, as well as in the bathroom, while Husna points out damp behind her living room furniture and wallpaper coming away.
Husna said: “My son, he is always coughing, my mum is always coughing. I’ve called [Jigsaw Homes], I said they need to come and have a look. They gave me advice to get stuff from Wilko."
Husna says she made several attempts to bid for a new three-bedroom home for her family, but has never had any luck. Jigsaw Homes says that she has since been moved up the priority list due to overcrowding, with a recent policy update seeing overcrowding given a higher priority.
Jigsaw Homes insists most properties along Rydal Avenue have been checked by surveyors and no evidence of penetrating damp has been found, but it will work with residents 'to find a solution' - with new cavity wall insulation and extractor fans added to some properties.
Concerns for health issues linked to mould were shared by tenants on Rothesay Avenue, in Dukinfield. One mum, who asked not to be named, says damp has been coming through her corner wall for years while she regularly cleans mould from her bathroom. Two of her three children use inhalers.
"It just keeps coming through," she said. "I think it's in the bricks and plaster. The damp has gone onto the coats, sometimes the walls physically feel damp. It’s a pain. My son’s room was really bad and the bathroom was really bad. I just kept painting over it but it comes through again.”
Her neighbour, 21-year-old Razi Rivzi, says his mum struggles with her breathing after more than a decade at their home on the street. There is 'severe' mould in the bathroom, which Razi says has been reported for years.
" The mould has been there since we started living in the house, they’ve never tried to fix any of it," he said. " All they ever say is they will get back to you, they will see what they can do.
"They have never sent anyone to do anything. It’s getting to the point where we are fed up complaining.
"When we moved here my mum's breathing was fine. Now she has to take an inhaler twice a day or else she really struggles to breathe. We’ve been exposed to it for 11 years now.”
Like Gemma and Melissa, the complaints for Razi are not restricted to damp and mould. Razi, who also lives with his younger brother and sister, and his dad, says there are cracks on the living room wall that 'get bigger day by day'.
Other walls have similar issues on the landing and upstairs, while rats have been reported running through gaps from the back of the property. "It’s a constant stress that my parents have that the house could fall down at any time," said Razi.
"No matter how many times we ask them for stuff they never bother. It’s as if they don’t care. They are just unaffected by any complaints, no matter who is being CC’d into the emails."
What Jigsaw Homes says
The housing association says tackling damp and mould is a 'constant battle' as it can be caused at any time and by a variety of issues - such as high winds damaging roof slates, freezing pipes causing leaks, or defects in the building structure such as the damp-proof course or pointing. It says condensation issues can also be made worse due to overcrowding, or difficulty heating or ventilating properties.
Jigsaw Homes says it is taking on extra work regarding damp and mould, with hundreds of repairs currently being dealt with. A spokesperson from Jigsaw Homes Group added: “The safety of our residents is our primary concern and we are focusing our efforts on proactively identifying and responding to reports of damp and/or mould which arise throughout the year, and are generally worse in winter. We understand that condensation or mould can be worrying, and we are working with all the residents mentioned in tackling this.
“We accept that in some of these cases communication could have been better and dealing with some of the issues reported to us could have been quicker, and we are sorry for this. The root cause of the problems here differ from case to case and while we have already undertaken some remedial work we will continue to work with our residents, including rehousing a family, we have repair work booked in and are hoping to rehouse another family.
“We inspect all of our homes every year and book in repairs including mould treatments. We have a process in place for our employees to report damp or mould problems during inspections and routine visits.
“In the wake of the tragic death of Awaab Ishak, we have changed our processes and we are going through our records to identify all mentions of damp or mould to make sure action has been taken in all cases and that we progress works to homes where problems persist. We manage over 36,000 homes and in the last 12 months we have undertaken repair work or treatments to address damp or mould in the homes of 2,273 of our residents.
"We currently have 496 open repairs orders relating to damp or mould which we are dealing with. Next month we are delivering damp, mould and condensation awareness training for all staff. We have a dedicated page on our website which offers advice on dealing with damp, mould and condensation but we would urge any of our residents who may be concerned about damp and mould in their own home to contact us.”
READ MORE FROM OUR INVESTIGATION ON DAMP AND MOULD:
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'How does this happen?': Coroner rules Awaab Ishak, 2, died after mould wasn't treated at his home
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All the ways tragic two-year-old toddler Awaab Ishak was failed before his death
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After little Awaab's death the government is now promising change. It can't come soon enough
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The nasty stench of racism pervades the tragedy of little Awaab Ishak
