‘Black mould in our home made my children ill’

Image source, Family handout

Image caption, Kayla Lamb suffered an asthma attack while living in a property affected by black mould.

By Chris Clements

Social affairs correspondent, BBC Scotland

A law firm is planning a major group action against housing providers over lung conditions allegedly linked to black mould.

Thompsons Solicitors says it has 41 clients with illnesses made worse by damp conditions in social housing.

The cases involve 13 housing associations and local authorities across Scotland, with the Wheatley Group accounting for almost half.

Wheatley said 98.5% of mould complaints were treated within two weeks.

Solicitor Claire Campbell is a partner at Thompsons, who specialise in industrial cases involving lung damage.

She said the focus of her case load was now primarily focused on mould exposure in rental properties.

“Clients are developing lung diseases or if they already suffer from a lung disease like asthma, that’s been exacerbated by their living conditions,” she told BBC Scotland News.

“Children are particularly at risk. Obviously, a lot of children already have asthma or suffer from chest infections.

“We’ve seen cases where people have also developed skin problems and allergies – there are a number of different conditions that we see.”

‘My kids deserved better’

Stacey Lamb said she and her children complained about their home being affected by mould for three years.

The former emergency call handler said she became aware of the conditions at the flat in Bailleston, Glasgow, in 2018 after her then-infant son Junior had repeated chest infections.

The family lived at a property owned by Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), now Wheatley Homes Glasgow.

Image caption, Stacey Lamb’s son Junior suffered repeated chest infections, according to her lawyers.

Ms Lamb said: “The doctors said they didn’t know why he’s taking unwell so much. They asked if we had any mould or dampness in the property.

“I had a bit in the bathroom. But something just was telling me something wasn’t sitting right with the house.”

The 39-year-old later found mould throughout her son’s bedroom, including in drawers and cupboards.

She said her daughter Kayla’s asthma also got worse over the stay at the property until she was admitted to hospital.

Image source, Stacey Lamb

Image caption, Black mould in Stacey Lamb’s rental property in 2018.

A letter from her medical practice stated her condition was “exacerbated by mould and dampness which present in her current accommodation”.

Ms Lamb and her children moved out of the property in 2021.

She said: “It took a good a lot of fighting to actually get out that house and give my children a life they deserved.”

The family is now being represented by Thompsons in a legal action against the housing association.

A Wheatley spokesperson said it dealt with an initial mould complaint in 2019, adding: “Other incidences of mould in her previous property were during Covid times when Scottish government guidelines stopped us getting into homes to carry out repairs.

“As soon as we could get in, we fixed these issues.”

‘Definite basis for a group action’

Ms Campbell said that the aim of the firm was to bring cases together where possible.

“We are looking into them initially individually,” she said.

“But we are really pursuing investigating the prospect of a group or class action, particularly where there is more than one person in the same estate or street affected.

“I think we have good prospects of doing that because as I say, there are a lot of claims specifically against Wheatley Group or Glasgow Housing Association.

“There is a definite basis for a class action against that housing association.”

Image source, Stacey Lamb

Image caption, Stacey Lamb complained about conditions at her Wheatley-owned property for three years.

Nineteen cases are linked to GHA or Wheatley Group.

Wheatley said the cases related to only 11 of its properties.

GHA became Wheatley Homes Glasgow in 2022 and is Scotland’s largest social landlord with more than 42,000 homes.

It is part of the larger Wheatley Group, which owns 64,000 properties across the country.

‘My son’s asthma got worse’

Khylie Ramsay, 37, is also pursuing a legal claim against Wheatley Group over claims her son Riley’s asthma was made worse by mould.

The mental health worker said she moved to a property in the south side of Glasgow two years ago.

In October last year, Riley, 11, was taken to hospital after an asthma attack. She said doctors told the family his lung function was only operating at 30%.

Image source, Khylie Ramsay

Image caption, Khylie Ramsay’s son Riley, 11, was taken to hospital last October.

Around a week later, she found a mould infestation in the property’s bathroom, including toadstools growing from the floor.

Ms Ramsay later commissioned an air quality assessment at the home that found evidence of mould spores in her son’s bedroom.

A consultant’s letter sent to Wheatley also stated there was “good evidence to support the dangers of exposure to black mould in contributing to asthma symptoms, therefore it is unwise to continually be exposed”.

The mum-of-four said she believed the damp conditions had “contributed to Riley’s decline”.

Image source, Khylie Ramsay

Image caption, Fungus growing from the bathroom floor at Khylie’s rental property.

She continued: “Riley was on inhalers before we moved to the property. Now he’s on tablets. He’s on a higher inhaler.

“I’m doing this so it doesn’t happen to anybody else. I’m a strong believer that the conditions of the house shouldn’t have been like that.

“I also think it’s been in there a lot longer than a year.”

Wheatley Homes Glasgow told BBC Scotland News that all mould had been “removed from the home and considerable repairs have been carried out, including upgrading the ventilation”.

It added that it is considering the family’s request for a move.

Other cases

Aisling Mylrea, managing director of Wheatley Homes Glasgow, said: “We are totally committed to eradicating mould and damp.

“Complaints are investigated within two working days and more than 98.3% of all cases are treated within 15 working days.

“Wheatley has 64,000 homes for social rent. A very, very small number have issues and we will not rest until each and every single tenant is completely happy with their homes.”

Other housing providers being pursued by Thompsons include Fife, Highland and Aberdeenshire councils and Scottish Borders Housing Association.

Fife Council stated it “adopts a robust inspection and support approach for council tenants experiencing dampness”, while Aberdeenshire said aims to resolve mould issues within three months.

Scottish Borders HA said it has not been contacted by Thompsons but said it takes “several steps to prevent, diagnose and resolve damp and mould in tenants’ homes”.

Highland Council declined to comment.

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