20 January 2023 , 10:18
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Several families on one street are living in damp homes that have turned green on the outside and are covered with mould festering within.
After visiting the houses of tenants in Cambridgeshire, the Mirror can now reveal the true extent of the misery endured on a street of shame with a Housing Minister as the MP at the helm.
Children as young as two-years-old living at Queensway, Soham, have been left breathing in black mould as their parents’ efforts to clean regularly do little to stop the deadly fungi returning.
Residents in the constituency held by Housing and Planning Minister Lucy Frazer say they are in a constant battle with their social housing provider - Sanctuary Housing, to tackle the harmful problem which saw toddler Awaab Ishak die shortly after his second birthday.
Secretary of State Michael Gove vowed that avoidable deaths like that of the Rochdale boy must “never happen again”, but yet many are still trapped in uninhabitable homes and are yet to see change from their housing providers.
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Instead, families on the hellish street in Cambridgeshire say they’ve been ‘blamed’ for the mould and have been left feeling ‘insulted’, "embarrassed" and "disgusted" after being told to “pressure wash” the outside of their homes as a solution.
No matter how much Sam scrubs the walls, the mould keeps coming back (Albanpix.com)Mum-of-five Sam Skeels says she has been cleaning black mould off the walls of her house for seven years shortly after she moved in.
After entering her residence, it isn’t long before you can smell and taste the mould which has left her children "embarrassed to have friends over."
Housing Minister Lucy Frazer is the Conservative MP for South East Cambridgeshire, and has been an MP continuously since 7 May 2015 (Handout)Sam said: “I’m disgusted that these kids end up ill and have health conditions for the rest of their life. Possibly even like the poor little boy [Awaab Ishak] that died.”
Sam says she “definitely” believes another child will die again as she has been waiting years for Sanctuary Housing to tackle her mould issues.
She claims the mould was hidden before she moved in which left her feeling gutted.
Sam says she's disgusted that her children might grow up with health conditions due to the mould (Albanpix.com)Sam said: “It’s gutting. You just can't get rid of it. You can't do anything and it just makes it look horrible. And obviously it's dangerous.
“It's been here since I came and it must have been cleaned for me not to see.”
Sam says her family has been blamed for the mould and told it was due to “overcrowding” in her home.
She claims she was also told to use a “pressure washer” to clean the external part of the house which left her feeling insulted.
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Sam said: “They said that you should pressure wash it. Apparently if you pressure wash it that comes up clean.
Sam says she believes the mould was temporarily cleaned before she moved in (Albanpix.com)“[With the overcrowding] how's that my fault if they’ve not put me in a house that’s not big enough for us? They had to pick where I go.
“I feel quite frustrated because they put the blame on me because I feel they can’t be bothered.”
On the other end of Sam's street, mum-of-four, Laura Webb, her husband Mark and four daughters aged between 13 and two, have had the same complaint about the mould for the last four years.
Laura has been forced to live with mould along with her four daughters of whom the youngest aged two-years-old (Albanpix.com)Much like the neighbour on her street, Laura noticed there was mould growing underneath the wallpaper of her daughters’ bedroom.
Laura claims one of her daughters, Piper, 7, who has special needs, has now developed a cough which she claims is down to her living environment.
The mum said: “We noticed in the colder weather she all of a sudden got a real bad cough.
Laura's daughters' bedroom is infested with mould and has exposed sockets (Albanpix.com)“Sometimes it affects her schooling. I had to try to tell the school about her cough and sometimes end up going to the GP. She’s in that damp bedroom.
“I try my best to wipe all the walls down."
Laura has a dim view of their landlords and maintains their chief concern is making money over the welfare of residents.
She said: "It doesn't surprise me how Sanctuary leaves their tenants. They don't care about their tenants as long as they get their money each week.
"Not everyone is privileged enough to afford their own house and we still pay our full bills."
Another resident, Kathleen Clements and her partner Wayne have had to tape the length of their bungalow's ceiling after they claim it collapsed from leaks.
The weight of the damp has taken its toll on the ceiling (Albanpix.com)The couple says they attempted to maintain their home by redecorating, however, they claim the damp patches on the walls prevent the paint from drying and leaves it running to the floor.
Her son has become unwell which she believes is due to the mould and has also been diagnosed with celiac disease and autoimmune disease.
Kathleen claims she has had to replace her belongings several times due to mould and has had to place the family's belongings in the centre of the room to avoid touching fungi on the walls..
Kathleen has lived in her property for four years and noticed the mould shortly after moving in (Albanpix.com)The floorboards are also starting to lift and there is a lot of condensation in the home.
Kathleen said: “I'm so frustrated that they just do not want to listen. As long as the rent is paid on time, they don't care about the state of the property.”
Mould has found its way into corners of the bedroom in Kathleen's bungalow (Albanpix.com)The exteriors of the homes on Queensway are covered in a light green cast which becomes more vivid as you approach the doors.
As well as mould residents are forced to live with on the inside of their homes, they say it is now visible on the outside due to the severity of the problem and as a result of poor building work by Sanctuary.
Tenants state that cladding had been placed on the exterior of their prefabricated homes but that a gap had been left between the covering and the brickwork allowing moisture to collect and mould to fester.
Residents say mould is now visible on the outside of their homes as a result of poor building work (Albanpix.com)In Hayley Gilby’s case, she has been forced to clean the mould in her home every two months for 15 years.
When the Mirror visited her property, the smell of chemical mould cleaning products lingered in her two-bedroom bungalow.
The mum has moved her nine-year-old daughter into a different bedroom due to the substance teeming in the corner next to the window.
(Albanpix.com)Hayley says she has to wipe puddles of water off the window sill everyday after they collect from condensation.
As well as constantly wiping the windows, Hayley says she tried leaving cat litter next to them as she was told that could help - which it didn't.
The Mirror contacted the Minister for Housing and Planning and MP for South East Cambridgeshire since 2015 Lucy Frazer.
The MP and Minister is responsible for "design and building better."
In response, a spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “There is no excuse for landlords to provide poor quality housing and they have a legal duty to ensure homes are fit to live in.
“The Housing Secretary has been clear that he will block government funding to any housing provider breaching consumer standards.
“Our Social Housing Bill will drive up standards - tackling damp, cold, unsafe homes, making sure landlords don’t ignore tenants and bolstering the Regulator’s power to act.”
While a spokesperson for Sanctuary Housing said: “We are committed to tackling mould and damp in our homes and take any reports we receive extremely seriously.
“We can reassure all our residents – including those on Queensway - that resolving these issues is a priority.
“Any concerns about mould and damp should continue to be reported to us directly so we can ensure that the appropriate action is undertaken in each individual case.”