Milton Keynes mouldy flat: Mum says son being 'left to die'

A mother said she felt like her four-year-old son was "being left to slowly die" due to mould in their rented home.

Demi Rock moved into the Grand Union Housing Group property in Bletchley, Milton Keynes, with her family in 2019.

He son Kyden is asthmatic and has a mould allergy, and a paediatric asthma specialist said he was "at increased risk of death" due to the housing.

Grand Union Housing acknowledged his condition was "really serious" and it was working to find suitable housing.

Ms Rock said she, Kyden and her daughter Elisa should have been moved three years ago.

She said Kyden became unwell about six months after moving to the ground floor social housing flat.

"He got asthma symptoms and he would be fine one minute, then it would just hit him and I'd be on the phone to the ambulance and he would be in hospital for a couple of days and then bedbound at home," she said.

Kyden has to use a nebuliser twice a day and can end up in hospital once a month, Ms Rock said.

He also has eczema which Ms Rock said was aggravated by the mould allergy.

Ms Rock said she had contacted both Grand Union Housing and Milton Keynes Council but felt the situation was not being taken seriously enough.

"It's just awful," she said.

"I can't understand how we can be left in these conditions when we have all these tests to prove he is allergic to the property.

"He's just being left to slowly die - that's how I feel."

Dr Ian Sinha, paediatric respiratory consultant and honorary associate clinical professor in child health, said Kyden had "significant respiratory vulnerability" and was "at increased risk of death in childhood, or premature adult mortality".

"I think the housing in which you live is putting him at increased risk of these outcomes, and that this is affecting his ability to have a happy childhood and fulfil his potential," he said.

"As a paediatrician, I am concerned that failure to move you as a matter of the utmost urgency could have grave and indeed fatal consequences."

Aileen Evans, chief executive of Grand Union Housing, said she understood Kyden's condition was "really, really serious".

"We are working really closely with the council to find somewhere more suitable - that's the ultimate solution to this problem," she said.

The group said it had sine offered the family hotel accommodation while it got "to the bottoms of what is causing these issues".

A spokesman for Milton Keynes Council said: "We've spoken to the housing association to remind them of their responsibilities towards their tenant, and they are urgently seeking an interim property,

"At the same time we're also searching for a permanent property of the right size.

"We do step in to help housing association tenants who are having issues with their landlord, and to aid with this we also recommend a complaint is raised to the Housing Ombudsman."

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