After more than two months in hospital following heart surgery, David Dennis arrived home to the familiar site of damp and mould in his home. The Clifton resident claims he’s had issues, including ‘water under the floorboards’, at his Malcolm Drive property for more than a year. The 46-year-old said he first spotted mould in his bedroom, before it appeared in the kitchen and other worse. Things are getting worse, he claims. “It’s not liveable,” David added. “I have water beneath the floorboards, it is horrible. All you have to do is lift the floorboards and you can see all this water.” He claims housing association ForHousing has not dealt with the problem, instead painting over mould and suggesting he bleaches any further patches. David says he’s had to move back in with his mum in Bolton, saying he doesn’t want to risk his health at the property. He suffers from angina, suffers with mental ill-health, has epilepsy and learning difficulties. “You can see all the mould in the house,” David added. “I need a completely new bathroom. “The housing association just say I need to spray it with a cleaner. My mum wanted me to come home because it is so bad. I just want to live my life and recover from my surgery. Going into winter I am worried it is going to get even worse. “I’m just asking for the basics of what they are expected to do. I am not 100 per cent sure what is causing this issue. It has to be properly investigated. "I want to go back as it is not fair on the people I am staying with. I don’t want to have to rely on other people.” Nigel Sedman, Executive Director of Homes at ForHousing said: “We take the health and safety of our tenants very seriously, so we’re really sorry for the damp and mould at Mr Dennis’ home and we’ve been working hard to resolve this. “We fixed the issue with the gutters leaking into his home last December. We’ve also carried out further external works to clear blockages and have been making every effort to arrange a convenient time to complete the work needed inside Mr Dennis’ home. “Since then, we have pre-arranged four appointments with Mr Dennis to do this work, but unfortunately he has either not been at home when we have attended the appointments or hasn’t allowed us access. We have stayed in regular contact in attempting to agree on access and have also suggested solutions such as putting a key safe on his home as we really want to make the improvements that are needed. “We have agreed with Mr Dennis to schedule the work for November 14 and we really hope he will allow us to do this as his safety is our top priority.”
