Damp home 'death' fear
A CROOK man says he would be dead if he hadn’t moved out of his mouldy old house after a three-year battle with landlords.
Stuart Duncan was told a non-existent leak in the toilet, drying clothes on a radiator and even the way he breathed at night may have been responsible for the damp which infested all five rooms at his home on Wheatbottom.
After three years of complaints, Mr Duncan contacted county councillor Eddie Murphy and was eventually moved to a new home on the other side of town by Dale and Valley Homes.
Mr Duncan, who is claiming £3,000 insurance for clothes, carpets and furniture destroyed by the damp conditions, faces a heart bypass next week and said the conditions he has been living in will only have made his illness worse. He even got a note from his doctor saying he had respiratory problems and couldn’t live in damp conditions.
The 52-year-old said: “My health has suffered from living in these conditions and I have no doubt that had I been there much longer someone would have found me dead in the living room one day. I had to have my window open at night just to keep my bedroom breathable which during the winter was appalling.”
Several surveys were carried out on the home each identifying different causes of the damp, none of them satisfactory for Mr Duncan. He said: “It was unbelievable the reasons they came up with. I was told I was breathing too heavily at night and the condensation from drying my clothes on the radiator was to blame.
They even told me I had too many clothes in the wardrobe which was causing the smell.
“I kept telling them the problem is somewhere around the boiler, none of the other things they said would account for the damp which was in every room of the house. I got so frustrated with them because they wouldn’t listen and I have had to throw out all my clothes and furniture because they got mouldy and smelly from the damp.
“I’m happy in my new home and my new case officers are looking after me really well.
“I’m just so angry it took so long for Dale and Valley to listen to what I was saying and do something about it.”
Cllr Murphy said: I couldn’t believe the state of the house when Mr Duncan contacted me and am shocked at how long he has had to live there. Just being in there a few minutes made me fell unwell and it’s scandalous that he has been left here so long. I will do everything I can to make sure he gets the compensation he deserves.”
Jack Hurst, acting director from Dale and Valley Homes said several surveys had been completed on the house following Mr Duncan’s complaints and the initial results pointed to excessive condensation being the problem.
He said: “Unfortunately the problem got worse, there were more and more spores in the house and we even found water standing beneath the carpets. We got three companies to do three surveys and found evidence of damp so we moved Mr Duncan for the benefit of his health and to conduct further tests. There is a fine line between condensation and dampness and the early indicators suggested the former.”
Mr Hurst also said none of the other houses in Mr Duncan’s terrace suffered from damp which is why they thought it might be condensation specific to his home.
He also said Mr Duncan would be entitled to some compensation due to a technical error which led to his insurance claim not getting through to the correct departments, a problem that has now been rectified.
