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Woman waiting seven years to move from mouldy home

Alec Doyle
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Local Democracy Reporting Service Theresa Batty wearing thin glasses, a white top and blue cardigan. She is sitting on a sofa with grey and brown pillows behind her. Local Democracy Reporting Service
Theresa Batty has been waiting for seven years to be rehoused

A woman who has waited seven years to move out of her damp, mouldy bungalow has said her home is making her sick.

Theresa Batty, 82, said the damp and mould in her council-owned bungalow in Ponciau, Wrexham was having a major impact on her physical and mental health.

Mrs Batty suffers from a list of health conditions including type two diabetes, a heart condition and oedema, which is swelling of the legs.

A Wrexham council spokesperson said it had been in contact with Mrs Batty and was looking to "rectify any outstanding issues".

Mrs Batty said she had been raising concerns since 2018 and believed the council was taking too long to move her into a warm, comfortable home.

"I can't live like this anymore," she said.

"This house is making me more sick. Everytime they come out and treat the issue, it comes back. The house constantly smells of damp and it's not right.

"They are not getting rid of it and at this point I don't believe they can. I just want to be able to live and breathe in my own home in comfort.

"I can't go into the kitchen for longer than a few minutes as I begin to cough uncontrollably and struggle to breathe.

"I have health conditions and it's making them worse. When they do come around to treat the problem, the anti-mould [spray] they put down goes everywhere - even on my legs. It is irritating my skin condition."

Local Democracy Reporting Service The wall below a cream window. It shows damp stains coming from below the window. It shows that the window has been repaired but damp stains still remainLocal Democracy Reporting Service
Damp regularly runs down the interior walls of Theresa Batty's home

Last month Mrs Batty's GP wrote to the council urging them to move her to a more suitable home.

Dr George Williams said in a letter that while dampness in the home had been rectified by her landlord, it "is still a major issue in that it is still present and is causing problems with her health, in particular her chest conditions".

Dr Williams supported the idea of moving Mrs Batty to the Pen-y-cae area where she would be close to her daughter, who provided some of her care needs.

When Mrs Batty first raised concerns over damp and mould in her home in 2018, she had already been dealing with problems in the bungalow for two years.

Previous issues included damp and mould along with water leaking into the electric cupboard, effluent leaking into her shower, unsafe electrical wiring, a loft leak and damp running down the walls.

A Wrexham council spokesperson said demand for social housing in Wrexham currently far outweighed supply with allocation of properties issued on a priority needs bases.