A disabled dad has shared his agony of living in a mouldy flat which has left him “struggling to breathe”.<br /><br />Chris Holland, 33, has been living in the ground floor property in Redditch, Worcs., for six months and says his health has rapidly deteriorated.<br /><br />Shocking pictures show the living room ceiling almost completely black with fungus while the walls and floors are peppered with ugly dark spots.<br /><br />The dad-of-one, who was forced to leave his warehouse job following a car crash, said: "The furniture's getting ruined and the ceiling is black.<br /><br />“I'm struggling to breathe. It's just really getting me down and it’s depressing me.”<br /><br />Chris, who lives on his own in the one-bed flat, noticed black mould spots on the walls and ceilings shortly after moving in last September.<br /><br />He says he alerted Redditch Borough Council to the problems but nothing was done to get rid of the mould.<br /><br />Chris said: "I've been onto them (the council) for the last six months. I want it rectified.<br /><br />"Every time I've cleaned it off it's come back with a vengeance.<br /><br />“I have an 18-month-old daughter but she can’t stay over.<br /><br />“I won’t have her here, it’s not safe.<br /><br />“It’s caused me health issues. I have been diagnosed with asthma and COPD. This is down to the mould. <br /><br />“Just a few weeks after moving in I noticed a tiny black spot patch in the living room. I kept wiping it down but it’s just got worse. <br /><br />“The council came around and looked at it and said it’s not in their job description as it has wallpaper. <br /><br />“How am I going to stand on a ladder and scrape it off. I’m allergic to it, I’m coming out in blotches and my arms are swelling up. <br /><br />“It stinks of the mould, it’s a really musky smell. I have a little a parrot and it could die. <br /><br />“There’s a cupboard in the kitchen where I keep all my clothes, but you can’t get rid of the smell. <br /><br />“I’ve ripped up all the carpet in the living room and bedroom. The living room is the worst. I can’t even sit in there because it’s damp and smelly.<br /><br />“I have had to throw a load of clothes away and I’ve had to buy a new settee, I'm getting rid of my bed too as it’s full of mould.”<br /><br />A spokesperson for Redditch Borough Council said: “An active disrepair claim on this property requires us to deal with the tenant’s solicitor.<br /><br />“We have now reached the stage of that process where we are able to arrange, through the solicitor, to carry out work we have identified in the living room.<br /><br />“This follows months of trying, through the solicitor, to arrange access to the property to carry out the survey that was required to identify this work.<br /><br />“We now hope to be permitted to carry out that work without undue delay.”
