NEW mums fear that living in mouldy flats in Toothill is harming their health and that of their babies and partners.

Shortly after moving into the Riverside mother-and-baby accommodation on Beaumaris Road in December, Chloe Moran noticed that walls which on first glance had seemed clean were actually riddled with mould.

Riverside run the care and support for young families living there, and provide a range of housing-related support so that they have the skills to live independently.  Bromford Housing Association owns and manages the building and is responsible for sorting out any maintenance, mould or repairs.

The 18-year-old gave birth to her daughter but has kept the baby in their bedroom because every other room in the flat has dark green-black spots showing through the paint and plaster.

Riverside staff have worked with residents to report the problem.

Chloe said: “We have been telling the management about this for months but nothing has been done.

“They didn’t promise to actually sort it until a pre-lockdown inspection was carried out a couple months ago but since then, we’ve had no update.

“I’m very worried about my health, the health of my baby and of my partner. He’s asthmatic and has had to take steroids since we moved here.

“I was seriously ill for three weeks before I gave birth and none of the staff seemed to care. I didn’t want to bring my daughter home from the hospital because I was so worried about our living conditions.”

Jasmine Turner has lived in the flats with her partner and 22-month-old baby for a year longer than Chloe but has faced the same problems with mould and muck.

She said: “I was not told about mould growing around my flat. There have been a lot of complaints about this issue from other tenants in this area and nothing is being done.

“I’ve used everything to try to clean it but nothing is working. With this being supported accommodation for young parents, I don’t think we’re being treated in a respectful manner.

“Around two months ago, we were all being told the problem is finally being solved only for it to come to absolutely nothing.”

Bromford associate director of localities Charlie Jackson said: “We carried out an inspection earlier in the year and spoke to the residents about actions they could take to reduce damp in their home.

"We also identified additional work to reduce the humidity and moisture in the flats. Unfortunately, before the work could take place the government announced the coronavirus lockdown and we decided in the interests of our customers and our engineers’ safety to stop carrying out non-urgent repairs in our customers’ homes.

“We have now restarted non-urgent repairs in customers’ homes but there is a large amount for us to work through that has built up since lockdown began. We are in the process of carrying out all these repairs but are unable to say yet when the work at Beaumaris Road will take place.”

In June 2018, the Adver reported on a rat infestation in the same residential area which prompted one of the mums to move out.