A distraught family is stuck in a damp, mould-riddled flat, while the boss of their housing association gets to kick back in a lavish £3 million home.
Jai Waller, who’s 20, says his two-year-old son Zayn was hospitalised due to mould. He claims his little boy had to spend 12 hours in hospital with severe bronchitis.
According to the Mirror, he’s now fearful about the health of his son Vincent, who was born last month.
This comes after a coroner ruled that two-year-old Awaab Ishak, died in 2020 in a Rochdale flat due to black mould exposure.
Jai’s home is owned by The Guinness Partnership which is one of the country’s biggest social housing providers.
The company’s boss, Catriona Simons, who earns £300,000 a year, has a five-bed home in one of London’s most exclusive areas, which is flaunted by celebrities.
Jai and his 22-year-old partner Crystal Randlesome moved into a newbuild block in Emersons Green in South Gloucestershire in September 2022. Their monthly rent is £605 but only two months are moving in, they said they found mould and raised it with the housing association before Christmas.
Jai claimed that their flat had broken heating which was fixed until January 2023 and they had to resort to using an electric heater to keep their home toasty enough for the whole family.
Jai said: “The damp is that bad, the paint is peeling off of the walls and ceiling. My message to Guinness is, if you’re not going to look after tenants, don’t house them.”
Crystal said of Ms Simons’ home: “It makes me feel angry. No matter whether you live in a £3m house or council house we’re all human and have the same rights.”
The Guinness Partnership said: “We are sorry about the issues Ms Randlesome and Mr Waller have experienced.”
The council and Guinness visited the property on March 15. Guinness said Mr Waller and Ms Randlesome previously refused an offer to install mechanical ventilation to tackle their condensation issue.
The company added that it attended the day it was told of the heating issue in December 2022, leaving it in working order.
