Fears for Barrow living with 'severe damp' after unanswered complaints

Beth Ormandy is nine months pregnant and lives with her three-year-old daughter Ava in a property in Hood Street, Barrow.

The family has lived in the home for the past two years which is owned and managed by Accent Housing.

However six months ago damp began appearing in one of the bedrooms which then spread to further rooms in the house.

Beth’s mother-in-law Jody Wood said she has filed three complaints to Accent in the past six months – but nothing has been done about the damp issues.

“I’m really concerned for my family,” Ms Wood, who works as an assistant manager, said.

“The house isn’t in a good state anyway. The radiator is constantly leaking, the boiler doesn’t work, the window is off its hinges and damp is everywhere. There’s loads of issues with the house we’ve informed Accent about that hasn’t been fixed.

ix months ago damp began appearing in one of the bedrooms which then spread to further rooms in the house (Image: Newsquest)

“The damp started in the front bedroom then took over.

“We’re constantly ventilating the house and opening the house during the day.

“We cleaned it and tried to ventilate the rooms by opening the windows but it’s not working.”

Ms Wood, who lives in Kendal, said her daughter-in-law and grandchild are ‘constantly coughing’ and fears for the health of her unborn grandchild set to be brought home in the coming days.

She said: “Ava is always poorly. She’s full of a cold and has a cough. She always has a runny nose. Beth is always coughing and has a cold too.

“We sent pictures to Accent of the damp and a staff member came out six months ago and started the process of getting a vent fitted. She said it would be fitted before the baby was born.

“Beth is now nine months pregnant ready to be induced and still nothing has been done.

“At one point they came over with a painting kit and told Beth – a heavily pregnant woman – to paint over the damp herself.

“We tried finding her somewhere else to live but she has a dog which a lot of housing won’t accept. There’s not many other houses apart from private landlords.

“I’m really concerned for the health of Beth, Ava and the baby when they’re brought home. You can’t help but think of that little boy who died after breathing in so much damp.”

Beth Ormandy is nine months pregnant and lives with her three-year-old daughter Ava (Image: Newsquest)

Two-year-old Awaab Ishak died in December 2020 from a respiratory condition caused by a mould infestation. His father Faisal Abdullah was told to paint over mould in the Rochdale Boroughwide Housing authority flat.

“They’re having to bring a newborn into this unhealthy environment which makes me so angry,” Ms Wood said.

“Beth would be better off in a caravan.

“It’s disgusting how Accent have responded to this. I’ve spoken to all sorts of people in the last few months but nothing has been done. It’s shocking. We want action to be taken.

“Ideally I want them out of that house, placed somewhere else and don’t want this happening to another family. How many more properties do Accent have in this state?”

A spokeswoman for Accent Housing said: “At Accent Housing we manage over 20,500 homes and customer safety is our utmost priority. We have been working with the customer to provide support with damp and mould in their home and are committed to resolving this issue as soon as possible.”