Months of living in damp bedsit damaged our health

Thatcham couple are finally being re-housed after a mystery leak in September caused mould to grow up walls

A THATCHAM couple are finally to be moved to a temporary home, after living in a mouldy bedsit for eight months.

Alisha Braybrooke and her husband Russell Smith discovered a leak in their bedsit in Boscawen Way in September last year and reported it to the housing association responsible for the maintenance, Sovereign South+West.

After several visits from workmen, the cause of the leak has yet to be found, but mould has since grown up the walls in every corner of their home.

Although the couple are now being re-homed, they said that they should have been moved by the housing association much sooner because living in the property had harmed their health.

Mrs Braybrooke said: “We went to Citizens Advice and we showed them pictures of how we were living.

“They called it uninhabitable.

“We are waking up every morning bunged up and we are still paying full rent and [Sovereign] are not helping us.

“When you pay rent you deserve the services.

“The mould is disgusting.”

She also said that almost £1,000 worth of clothing had been ruined by the mould and that initially Sovereign said that the couple did not need to be moved because the mould had not spread everywhere.

Sovereign South+West put the delay in relocating Mrs Braybrooke down to a misunderstanding about whether the laminate flooring, which had been laid without permission, should be lifted up.

A spokesman for the housing association, Roy Probert, said that Sovereign staff visited the bedsit in September but could not find the source of the leak.

He added that they had asked Mrs Braybrooke to remove the flooring but failed to hear back from her until December.

He said that when Sovereign was contacted again by Mrs Braybrooke, the company learnt that the laminate flooring was still in place and so Sovereign removed it themselves on May 4 but could still not find the source of the leak.

Mr Probert added: “We attended again this week to review the situation and the damp was worse.

“We are trying to find a temporary home for Mrs Braybrooke as quickly as possible, while we carry out a full investigation into the source of the leak, and she is already scheduled to view a property this afternoon [Tuesday].”