'˜Mould in my St Leonards flat is making my son ill'

Mould has built up in Mechelle Clifton's flat

Mechelle Clifton, 26, moved into her flat in Battle Road, St Leonards, more than a year ago with her son who suffers from a mild form of autism.

Since moving in, Ms Clifton said her flat, owned by housing association Clarion Housing, has had problems with mould, asbestos and a broken lock on the communal front door.

She said: “Mould built up in every room in my flat and when I contacted the housing association they told me it was as a result of my lifestyle as I didn’t open any windows.

Mechelle Clifton said the mould has made her son ill

“The asbestos was found in the flat but only after we could have been exposed to it for about ten days.

“My son has been affected by the mould and keeps being sick at night.

“I am on a steroid inhaler because of how I have been and have constantly got a cough now.”

Ms Clifton also said she had a leak in her bathroom coming from a bath in the upstairs flat but Clarion Housing said the leak was repaired more than two months ago.

Clarion Housing Group said repairs have been carried out

A spokesman for Clarion Housing Group addressed a number of the concerns raised by Ms Clifton and said repairs had been carried out to ‘reduce moisture in the property’.

The spokesman added: “Our in-house repairs service, Clarion Response, has visited this property on a number of occasions to investigate Ms Clifton’s concerns and has found no structural damp in the property, therefore any mould occurring is a result of lifestyle condensation.

“However we have installed a new ventilation system to help with the issue and offered advice on how to reduce moisture in the property.

“There was an issue with asbestos last year, during which time the tenant was offered temporary accommodation for two days which was turned down. However, all clean up works were completed at the time and a full air test carried out to make sure no harmful fibres were left.

Mechelle Clifton's flat in Battle Road, St Leonards

“We can also confirm the leaking bath in the other property was repaired over two months ago and following the communal front door being damaged on several occasions, we currently considering long-term solutions to resolve this.”