Dartmouth Park family with newborn baby 'plagued by mould'

Mark Blower, 31, said his 10-week-old son has been admitted to hospital several times over the last few weeks over concerns for his health over a “bad cough” which is alleged to have been caused by the mould.

Mark told this paper that his girlfriend has lived at the council-owned flat in Dartmouth Park Avenue for more than seven years and claimed the issue has become “worse and worse”.

While Mark lives outside of London himself, his partner lives in the mould-infested property with her two daughters, aged nine and 11, as well as their baby boy.

Mould at the window from one of the rooms (Image: Handout)

Mark said the two girls have both been diagnosed with asthma, which has affected their activity in sports and has left one of them in a coughing fit throughout the night which “makes their sleeping pattern terrible”.

“Before last year they were perfectly fine,” he claimed.

“It [the mould] spread all over the bed, it spread onto the wardrobe and we had to throw them away. There’s the clothes, shoes, mirrors – we had to throw everything away.”

Mould in one of the rooms (Image: Handout)

As a result, he said the family were forced to sleep in the living room to avoid the conditions of the bedroom.

Near the end of August Camden Council organised to clear the mould in the bedrooms, but the concerned father said that “you can still smell it and it’s starting to come up again”.

A look at the toilet (Image: Handout)

With signs of the mould returning already and their son needing hospital treatment, the family decided to move the cot and most items back once more into the living room as they sleep there.

Mark continued: “It’s just been an absolute nightmare and I feel like they’re fobbing us because they don’t have to live here.”

After the Ham&High contacted Camden Council last week regarding the recurring problem, the council said they visited the property on August 4.

But Mark believes despite the repeated cleaning attempts from his girlfriend and mould teams at the council, the only solution is to move the family to another home.

A closer look at mould at the property (Image: Handout)

“This is my son’s life at risk," he claimed.

A Camden Council spokesperson said: “We want all our tenants to live in warm, safe and well-maintained homes and we are committed to tackling damp and mould.

“To address issues with mould in this property our dedicated damp and mould teams have visited and inspected the property several times, most recently this week.

“A schedule of repairs aimed at tackling the issues potentially causing the mould has been agreed with the tenants and will be carried out as a priority. We will continue to monitor the situation throughout the winter.”

Council tenants can report damp and mould issues to the council online at camden.gov.uk/housing-repairs or by calling 0207 974 4444.