Mum ‘forced to throw £4,000 into furniture’ after Walsall’s flat was plagued with mold

A family say they were forced to throw away £4,000 worth of furniture, clothes and even a TV because their home was plagued with mould.

Mum-of-two Dilkash Wishyar has shared dramatic photos of black dampness on her walls and covering a wardrobe in her two-bed Walsall property.

Although the mold has since been dealt with by Walsall Housing Group, the mum says the dampness in the property continues to leave carpets damp and “affecting their health”.

Read more: Mum’s Christmas hell inside ‘apartment where mold is growing everywhere – even on baby’s toys’

“It’s everywhere. It’s a matter of dampness and mold,” she said.

“My little girl several times, comes to my room after midnight two, one and a half [and says] ‘oh what’s going on here, I can’t breathe because it smells really bad’.

“I say ‘what can I do?’ I can’t leave the windows open every time because it’s cold. I don’t know what I can do? It’s too much.

Miss Wishyar first noticed mold in her kitchen in 2018, but it didn’t start spreading “everywhere” until the following year.

“I reported it and once a member of staff came to take a photo but he didn’t get back to me.

“in 2020, I was told that I was lucky to have a two bedroom, I don’t see why I’m lucky because I have two children and a small bedroom and a not too big one, a normal room, they say yes you are very lucky, because ten people are in a room [in other homes].

She added that she had spent “over £4,000” replacing furniture, clothes, shoes, carpets, plates, TV, sofa, bed, wardrobe, drawers.

“I don’t have a good job, I don’t work, how am I supposed to throw away every month or every two months, for example, two months ago I had to throw away a large three-seater sofa and one two seat.”

She claims the dampness in the property has caused her health problems, including migraines and depression.

“It’s not good for me, I’m not worried about myself, but about my children.

“Inside, the carpet is wet. My room, my children’s room, the water is coming in.”

“I called the manager, I said, ‘Come please, we are very very bad [situation]I am not good.’

“‘If you don’t come and help us, it’s very bad for us.’

“I say, ‘look what happened to me, I can’t breathe all the time, I have a headache.

She claims she tried strong bleach to clean the mold, but nothing worked.

Walsall Housing Group said it carried out ‘repair work to remove the mould’ in December last year and stressed that the majority of the images were historic.

Further work is planned to “improve the insulation” of the block from the spring, added a spokesperson.

Rob Gilham, Director of Business Strategy and Assets, said: ‘We don’t want to see any of our clients living in these conditions and are doing everything we can to make Miss Wishyar feel happy and comfortable in her home.

“We worked closely with our client to resolve any issues in her home and completed repair work to remove the mold in December 2021. These photos provided by the client were taken several months ago before we had any opportunity to perform this treatment.

“Work is planned to improve the insulation of the block and we expect this to start in spring/summer. We are also updating the storage heaters to a more modern and more economical alternative in the coming weeks. a wider program of work – over the next eight years we will invest £42.5 million to ensure that all our homes have a minimum energy rating of C.

“We remain in regular contact with the client and her family to support them where we can.”

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