Dad can 'taste' mould in damp home triggering severe stress

William Trees is scared the fungi is damaging his health after it started growing at his property a year ago.

The 53-year-old, who lives in Thornliebank, suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which is a lung condition that causes breathing difficulties.

He now claims he must sleep in the living room and his children have moved out because of the mould.

William has dampness at his property (Image: Colin Mearns)

William said: “I have been living with mould for a year now, it has been a real nightmare.

“I have COPD so it makes me feel very sick and I have had a lot of chest infections, I can’t be in this property.

“You can actually taste the dampness and mould in the air, it is absolutely disgusting and it stinks.

“I now sleep in the living room and my children had to move out of the property because of the condition. I find it very hard to breathe.

"I am on inhalers all the time because it gives me asthma attacks.

“It is getting me right down and making me extremely stressed. There's thick black mould everywhere. I am worried long term about what this will do to me.”

The mould is now being treated (Image: Colin Mearns)

The Wheatley Group said they have made multiple attempts to carry out repairs but could not gain access to the property since it was reported.

William claims he waited but no one showed up and on other occasions cancellations were put in place. The housing association denies this.

The Wheatley Group also said William had not been living at the property on some occasions that they tried to gain access.

However, William claims he has always lived at the property, but would stay with friends and family as much as possible because the condition of the home triggered asthma attacks.

Now an investigation has been launched as the dad-of-two has welcomed the start of repair work since being interviewed by the Glasgow Times.

The Glasgow Times visited the property (Image: Colin Mearns)

We previously reported how the number of complaints to Environmental Health about damp, mould, and water penetration, across all landlords in Glasgow increased in the last year.

Official figures revealed the scale of the problem with 1,231 people contacting the council about issues with their landlord.

The number is a rise on the previous year, 2022, when it was 1,067, meanwhile two years before that, in 2020, it was 865.

Glasgow City Council does not own any homes but is the housing authority and the Environmental Health department deals with complaints about substandard homes on health grounds.

William is hoping repairs will be complete soon as he can taste the mould (Image: Colin Mearns)

A Wheatley Homes Glasgow spokesperson said: “The tenant first reported damp in the home in February last year.

"We tried repeatedly to get into the home to carry out repairs, but the tenant wouldn’t allow us in until September.  

 “We’ve been unable to carry out the follow up work required because the tenant has either not let us in or has not been living in the home when we’ve arranged appointments.  

 “The tenant agreed to allow us access [on Tuesday, February 6] and we’ve treated the entire house.

"The customer has also given us a key to allow all of the follow-up repairs to take place.”