Family in mould hell

9:09am Wednesday 14th May 2008

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A Borehamwood family has been waiting more than a year for a housing association to clean damp and mould from their flat.

Danielle Hodges, 28, moved into the two-bedroom property she rents in Bennington Drive with her husband and two-year-old daughter, Ellie, in April last year. She told Genesis Housing Group, which owns the property, about the problems the following month. Mrs Hodges said: "The damp happened straight after we moved into the flat and we found it on the mattress of my daughter's cot. "In June we got married and with our wedding money we bought new furniture. "The furniture, including a wardrobe and drawers, are all ruined now because of the mould."We have received no support from the housing association and it has been very stressful to get the situation sorted."Earlier this month Ellie was forced to move out of her own bedroom and share with her parents. Neighbour Alaina Simmons moved into a flat on the same floor as the Hodges last June. She noticed similar problems within two months of moving in. Mrs Simmons said: "It has been a complete battle to get anything done and the mould is getting excessive now."We are in a catch-22 situation as we want to keep the mould as evidence to show the housing association but feel that for our health we should clean it away."I could understand if it was in one room but it is green and yellow on the walls in every room."Martin Shaw, of Genesis Housing Group, said: "We are sorry for the problems that this tenant (Danielle Hodges) has experienced and have been working with her, the contractors and environmental health teams to ascertain the cause of the mould. "We will continue to do everything we can to resolve this for our customer as soon as possible."