00:00 Nearly 70 years old, Barbara Hazyuk lived with leukemia at Downland Court in Ashford.
00:07 But since moving to the property managed by the Clarion Housing Association two years
00:12 ago, she has battled against mould and problems with her heating, despite repeated requests
00:17 for help.
00:18 The first thing you notice when you walk into this house is the smell. There is damp and
00:22 mould in every single room, from the carpets to the cupboards, and dehumidifiers on every
00:28 single windowsill to try and get rid of some of that moisture and damp.
00:33 Even Barbara's family jewellery is covered in little green patches of mould and she says
00:40 she just can't keep living like this.
00:43 It makes me nervous, like I said, I can't breathe. I just go to my neighbours during
00:49 the night, it was on Saturday, because it was scary, I couldn't breathe. I go into bed
00:55 and I look like a fish. Suddenly, I'm afraid sometimes to go to sleep. There is much worse,
01:05 I visited a doctor yesterday and the doctor said I'm supposed to complain. I said I complain
01:12 for a month, for a year, two years, almost two years. And he said you cannot live like
01:16 this, especially, nobody's supposed to live like this, especially you in this condition.
01:23 Clarion promised to replace the mouldy cupboards in February, but four months on, Barbara's
01:28 belongings still litter the living room floor. Even her neighbours fear for her health.
01:33 No, it's not fair, because it's not good for her and for this different house, it's smelly,
01:39 very smelly. House sit long time, if you sit, drink coffee, this is very smelly. For me,
01:44 I'm always not feel better.
01:47 A Clarion spokesperson said they're very sorry Ms Hazjek's home is being affected by these
01:52 issues and that the work to fix them has progressed slower than they wanted.
01:58 We take all reports of damp and mould seriously and have been working hard to provide a solution
02:03 with multiple visits from operatives looking to identify the underlying cause of the damp.
02:10 This case was complicated by two sources of damp, a leak from the washing machine, now
02:15 fixed and a guttering issue. We are in contact with Ms Hazjek and are arranging further work
02:21 on the gutters, replacement kitchen units and new extractor fans.
02:27 With further work scheduled for the end of May, Barbara hopes the issues will be resolved
02:32 while the weather is still warm and damp doesn't become a potentially more dangerous problem.
02:38 Oliver Lewis, the Satchel KMTV, in Ashford.
