Worcester mum slams Platform Housing over severe mould in flat

Lucie Smith, of Willis Place, St John's, Worcester, lives in a flat managed by Platform Housing with her two young daughters, Isla Grace (aged three) and Willow Rose (aged four and a half months). 

Ms Smith feels Platform Housing is  responsible for the mould and has said the issue was first reported back as early as October 2021.

She said:" I have been trying to get out of this property now for the last three years as mine and my children’s physical health is failing due to Platform Housing's mistakes. 

"My daughters and I have three beds in one room of this tiny flat, and all suffer from asthma. The mould has caused multiple chest infections for us all as well as general chesty coughs.

"We originally shared this with Platform back in October but the issue was only acknowledged in January of this year as I was told they had no record of me lodging the complaint."

Lucie claims she was told by Platform Housing that the issue would take no more than six weeks to be rectified but delays pushed the issue back to ten weeks before anyone attended the property to resolve the situation. 

Mould near the windows

She said: "The mould growth became so bad that we had to report it to Environmental Health.

"When somebody eventually came they scraped away the mould and Platform later provided a sum of compensation for the delay.

"The compensation was not what I was reporting this for, it is myself and my children's health that has suffered due to the situation."

According to the NHS, mould and dampness are caused by excess moisture, which can be caused by leaking pipes, rising damp in basements or ground floors, or rain seeping in because of damage to the roof or around window frames.

According to the NHS, mould produce allergens, irritants and, sometimes, toxic substances.

Inhaling or touching mould spores may cause an allergic reaction, such as sneezing, a runny nose, red eyes, skin rash and asthma attacks.

Marion Duffy, chief operations officer at Platform said: "We are really sorry to hear about this situation for our customer. 

"Looking after the health and wellbeing of our customers is paramount. One of our operatives has visited our customer at her home and has arranged with them for the works required to be carried out"