‘The mould makes my asthma worse,’ says tenant

Residents living in "luxury" flats say they are having to cope with black mould on walls and ceilings and mushrooms growing through the carpet.

The Old Works in High Wycombe is a complex of more than 228 apartments run by MCR Homes which had described the flats as "modern luxury".

Frankie Carter, 20, who lives in the De Havilland building at the Leigh Street complex, said they had to move their bed and possessions into the living and kitchen area due to mould caused by an external leak.

MCR Homes said leaks in two blocks took longer than usual to identify but it "worked quickly" to resolve the issues and had compensated tenants or offered them alternative apartments.

"I have asthma. It wasn’t that bad, but this has really triggered it, especially when the bed was on the floor and a lot closer to the bedroom door," Carter told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"I was wheezing. I had headaches all the time.

“Before the bed was moved, it was smelly, damp, musty and wet. Quite a lot of the flats have been affected by leaks and mould.”

The tenant said the spread of mould had slowed, but not disappeared, after the leak was patched with expanding foam by MCR Homes, which is a subsidiary of MCR Property Group.

According to other tenants, there was still a leak next to a lift in Birch House, another block at the Old Works, where persistent damp soaked a carpet and caused mould to spread up a wall.

Matt, who lives in one of Birch House’s shared-ownership flats, said: "There was a leak in the shared area and mushrooms growing there a couple of weeks ago."

Another resident called Lucie added: "If you go to the lift, you can actually see the water damage that has been done to the carpet."

Freja Brunning, who also lives in a shared-ownership flat, added: "It is not good the amount they are charging."

MCR Homes said the site was "fully compliant" and met all "regulations".

Another incident at the Old Works saw cars crushed by a collapsing ceiling in the car park in 2022.

MCR Homes said engineering surveys showed the car park area was now safe, while a leaky pipe in the area was being resolved.

A spokesperson also said the company had an ongoing claim against the civil engineer that carried out the building work on that part of the car park.

Buckinghamshire Council's cabinet member for homelessness and regulatory services, Mark Winn, said the local authority had received reports of issues at Old Works and environmental health officers had investigated.

"Site visits have not identified significant hazards that require enforcement action," he said.

"However, the council continues to have an open channel of communication with MCR Homes regarding issues at the site."

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