Durrington couple say mouldy flat made son cough so much he was sick

Summer Rudman, 25, and her partner Carl Atkins, 29, say their and their son Reggie's health is deteriorating week by week.

“The mould has affected everything from the windows and walls to the doors and our chest of drawers,” Miss Rudman said.

One of the windows in Summer Rudman's flat. (Image: Freelancer)

“Our carpet is wet and we’ve had to throw out bags of clothes because they were mouldy and there was no saving them. We’re now living out of plastic containers to protect our clothes.”

The couple have complained to their housing association on more than 15 occasions but say A2 Dominion just washed down their walls in November and repainted over the mould which returned within a month.

“My son is always ill,” said Summer. “He’s coughing and cold all the time.

“I have been going to see my GP at the Barcroft Medical Centre in Amesbury for asthma and my partner Carl is also asthmatic.”

The couple have been living in their two-bedroom flat in Durrington for the past three years.

They leave the windows on the ground floor flat locked for security reasons when they are out at work and only open them when they are at home.

The lack of ventilation and a broken radiator in Reggie’s room means condensation and mould builds up in the damp environment.

“We are keeping the flat as warm as we can but our son’s radiator is broken and the mould builds up.”

The couple have complained to their local Wiltshire ward councillor Graham Wright and their local Devizes MP Danny Kruger, who wrote to A2 Dominion’s chief executive, and their GP has twice written to the housing association.

Some examples of the mould in the couple's flat (Image: Freelancer)

“It’s an absolute nightmare,” said Miss Rudman, a supermarket customer assistant. “Our GP has written twice to A2 Dominion saying that our health is being affected.

“I’ve had to take days off due to Reggie being poorly. He was coughing so much he was physically sick.”

They say their complaints have been taken to the “highest level” at A2 Dominion, which builds and maintains ‘quality’ homes and manages 39,000 properties in London and southern England.

But they claim their complaints get passed from one person to another without any action being taken to rectify the situation long term or to move them to another property.

Mould is affecting their furniture and clothing (Image: Freelancer)

Dawn Wightman, director of Homes & Communities at A2Dominion, said: “We would like to offer our apologies to Ms Rudman and Mr Atkins for the issues they have experienced in their property, and we fully understand their concerns and frustration. The health and safety of our customers is our number one priority, and we take all reports of damp and mould seriously.

“We’re in regular contact with the family about the steps we are taking, and our team outlined this in a written response to their local MP in December. We also acknowledge a letter from their local GP and we are treating this matter as high priority.

“We’re continuing to do everything we can, and an initial damp wash and paint job was carried out in November 2022. A further survey was completed later that month and it confirmed that a specialist damp and mould inspection is required, which is taking place in February.

“We understand this is taking time to resolve, but we’d like to reassure the family that we will be carrying out additional temporary measures at the property to ensure they feel comfortable in their home before the specialist report takes place.”