Tenant Bella Lavin claims the issue has affected her mental health and she will demand to be rehoused if the giant mushroom on her bathroom ceiling returns again
A couple resorted to wearing face masks in their own home – after a 20-centrimentre mushroom appeared on their bathroom ceiling.
Bella Lavin, 22, also moved her 12-month-old daughter and their cat to her mum’s home after blaming the appearance of the mushroom on a leak in the flat above her property. And she says she is not happy with how long it took Staffordshire-based Aspire Housing to remove the mushroom, which she says affected her mental health.
Bella said: “It was just getting bigger and bigger and bigger. I was in floods of tears because I am visiting my daughter — she’s only one, she’s my first baby — and my disabled partner has been feeling ill, and I felt so hopeless. Aspire is letting people live in places where something like that can be allowed to grow. There are people worse off than me living with top-to-bottom black mould in their flats. It’s a crisis that no-one is dealing with head-on.”
Bella added: “Since this situation occurred, I’ve been trying to get away as much as I can. I went to visit my daughter and I started to cry as I went to come back, because that’s my baby, I want to be able to live with her. Because of this thing, I can’t be her mum, and it hurts me. She’s my baby, and she couldn’t come home.”
Bella and her partner Jordan Burton, who share the flat in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs, had waited seven months for it to become available. But Bella says she will “demand a rehousing” if the mushroom returns.
She said: “I want people to see that this is a reality. I felt like no-one was listening to me. People were saying to me ‘Why don’t you just rip it out and put bleach on it’ – but it’s not that simple.”
Aspire Housing’s head of transformation David Jones said: “We are aware of an issue with damp in Ms Lavin’s home as a result of a leak and have taken steps to resolve this. Ms Lavin contacted us through our online portal to report a damp and mould issue, and a repair visit was scheduled.
“Following a phone call to highlight further concerns, we escalated this to an urgent appointment and attended Ms Lavin’s home the next working day, carrying out initial mould treatment works the following day. We have scheduled a further appointment to address any damage from the leak that was identified in the home above and then we will continue to support Ms Lavin until these issues are fully resolved.
“We understand that problems with damp and mould can be very worrying, so we would encourage customers to report these issues as soon as they are identified. We are dedicated to providing safe, decent homes, and want all our customers to feel at ease in their homes.”