Dad fears mouldy Wiltshire flat is making his kids ill

A father living in a mouldy flat has said something needs to be done urgently as delays are affecting his children's health.

Noorullah Hashmi lives with his young family in a housing association flat in Great Bedwyn near Marlborough.

He said there was standing water in the sitting room, as well as mouldy walls and ceilings - the mould had also spread to the family's possessions.

Housing association Aster said it had organised for repairs to take place.

It comes as an inquest in Manchester heard the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak was directly linked to his exposure to mould in a flat.

Hashmi, originally from Afghanistan, told BBC Radio Wiltshire that in the two years since they moved into the ground floor flat, both his children, aged two and 18-months-old, have been ill with multiple chest infections.

He said that despite 27 visits from workmen, no one had been able to stop the extensive damp and mould.

"It's just delay and delay... my kids are ill from sleeping in a mouldy and damp house," he said.

The family have video and photographs that show the floors soaked with water and mould growing up the walls in all the rooms and on the ceilings.

Condensation runs down the windows and clothes, soft toys, furniture and mattresses were damaged by mould and have had to be thrown away, Hashmi said.

He said he and his wife Honey are "very stressed" about the situation.

The family's GP, Dr Angela Paddon from the village's Old School Surgery, has written to Aster to say the children have suffered multiple respiratory infections and that it is known mouldy and damp homes can make babies and children ill.

Dr Paddon asked Aster to take this into consideration when assessing the family's housing needs.

In response, Aster said it was helping the family and had provided two dehumidifiers.

These have to be emptied up to twice a day and the family said they had collected more than 50 litres of water in just one week.

But Hashmi said despite numerous visits by surveyors, they had not been able to give his family a dry home.

"They say one day the problem is in here...the next day they say it's in there," he said.

Hashmi said his wife worked hard to keep the small flat clean and tidy but it was impossible to clean the mould and the floors were often very wet.

Linda Orchard, who lives near the Hashmi family, said she was "very concerned" about the two young children and was trying to support the family to get help.

She said she had witnessed multiple visits by maintenance staff and contractors from Aster but that there had been no actual work done in the flat.

She said the latest theory was a leak under the bath had been allowing water to soak though the concrete floors.

"I'm worried about the health of the children, because they are tiny, and they've both been very sick, and they don't look well," she said.

"After they had been away visiting family, the carpet was so wet the baby couldn't be allowed to crawl.

"I feel so sorry for them, Honey is a very loving mother and very upset," she added.

In a statement, Aster Group said: "We take the health and safety of our customers very seriously, and we're sorry to hear of our customer's problems.

"One of our surveyors visited the home last week (3 November) and organised for several repairs to take place urgently in the home.

"When our surveyor visited... he went through the work that was being booked with Hashmi, someone from the local surgery and a neighbour who were all present.

"We'll be in touch again directly with the customer to book in the work within the next two weeks.

"We'll visit the home shortly after the repairs have happened to reassess the situation and take any further action needed."

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