Dad 'constantly wipes' mould off walls of flat that's tearing kids' lives apart
A single dad of three says his family's life is being torn apart because of mould in his two-bedroom flat.
Saul Gill, 49, has been living in his council flat for more than 10 years with his three children but says the issue started six years ago.
Images and video from inside the flat in Hounslow, West London show black mould growing on the ceilings and walls.
The delivery driver had told the Mirror all of his children have been to the GP with illnesses he claims is caused by the mould and the family's mental health is suffering.
Mr Gill says the council agreed to carry out the work at the flat in Harlech Gardens earlier this year but went back and forth on whether the family would be temporarily relocated.
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Saul Gill standing in his children's bedroom in his council accommodation flat (David Dyson)Now the work has been scheduled to start in June, in the middle of his 16-year-old daughter's GCSEs.
Mr Gill told the Mirror: "It is causing issues in the family - my daughter and son are depressed and I'm now depressed.
"This property has a dark cloud over it, we shouldn't be breathing this air.
"It's breaking my family apart - these are my children. I want a normal family life and I want my children to be happy and successful.
"The longer this goes on the more my family suffers."
Saul Gill standing in the kitchen of his council accomadation flat in Heston, Hounslow (David Dyson)Mr Gill used to live by himself but after getting custody of his three children 10 years ago he requested to be moved to a bigger flat.
He claims the council told him to live in his front room, which he has done for the last 10 years.
The mould and dampness started to appear six years after local drug dealers reportedly made a hole in the side of the block, Mr Gill claims.
This is the bathroom of Saul's flat (David Dyson)He said he took matters into his own hands to fix things but due to financial constraints brought on by the pandemic he started to rely on friends and family to help.
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After claiming he was 'constantly wiping' away the mould, he contacted the council for help in January after it became unmanageable.
Mr Gill said: "I've relied on friends and family for support which they have done, but the mould and damp got bad at about September last year.
This is Saul's kitchen (David Dyson)"I tried dealing with it again by wiping it and it came back aggressively.
"In January I made a report to the housing team saying 'I can't do this myself anymore and you need to come to deal with the damp'.
"The inspector came from the local authority and advised me that the amount of work would mean I would have to leave while they decanted the flat."
This image shows how mould and damp have covered one of the corners of the bedroom (David Dyson)Between January and March, he tried to get more details and claims he was told he would be moved to a bed and breakfast and was reassured that "all was in hand".
Realising the flat above him was empty, Mr Gill followed up on March 24 to see if they would move him there temporarily.
He said: "I was told in the phone call that my family was no longer being moved and it's not a health and safety issue and the workmen can carry out the work with my belongings in the property.
"When I raised concerns about my stuff they said it wasn't an issue and they didn't put it in writing so I was left confused."
This is a closeup of the mould in the bathroom (David Dyson)Mr Gill says the work was due to be carried out on March 27 and his 27-year-old son stayed home to let the workmen in while he went to work.
He said: "When I left the flat I saw the workmen and told them we didn't have to move out because I was told it wasn't a health and safety issue.
"When I got back from work, my son said no one came by."
Mr Gill claims he found out the workmen had it in their notes that his family would be leaving the property.
He took the next day off work in case they came back and they didn't.
Things reached a tipping point when he found out from the repairs team that the works had been cancelled and would need to be rearranged because he hadn't removed items from the flat.
Now the works are due to be carried out between June 5 and 12, with the family moving into temporary accommodation.
However, Mr Gill remains less than optimistic.
He said: "My daughter is about to start her GCSEs and it doesn't finish until June 20th. It's disruption all around.
"My daughter had been to the GP for numerous tests. All of our health is deteriorating and our mental well-being is depressing.
"This is why I was previously dealing with it myself because I was worried about the nonsense I would be put through."
Mr Gill's desperate pleas for his family to live in a safe and comfortable home come as the Mirror launched its End Housing Hell campaign.
Launched in December, we are demanding that social, council and private housing tenants are fined when properties fail to meet the minimum standards.
We're also calling for the Decent Homes Standard to be enforced and extended to the private sector, tens of thousands more social homes to be built, better access to legal aid for tenants, inspections to improve and the Local Housing Allowance to be raised to help people with the cost of rent.
Latest figures show there are 3.5 million homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard.
Councillor Sue Sampson, Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Homelessness at Hounslow Council, told the Mirror: “We have worked quickly to organise work on the tenant’s property after he reported damp and mould in January 2023.
"We sometimes need residents to vacate the property and remove personal items when addressing issues such as those reported. We will continue to work closely with our tenant to reach a positive resolution and ensure damp and mould is removed from his property.
“As a council, we have committed £1 million to continue tackling damp and mould in our housing stock and a dedicated task force has been established to coordinate strategic and operational responses to the issue. We will do everything within our power to make sure residents live in high-quality and safe homes.”
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