Baschurch man says asthma has worsened due to mould in his house

Paul Holloway likes the area and their home but wants to get the problems fixed

A man who suffers from asthma says his conditioned has worsened because of a chronic mould problem in his house.

Paul Holloway, 56, said he had been battling damp at the home in Baschurch, Shropshire, for more than two years.

His housing provider Connexus had sorted some repairs, but not the damp, he said.

Connexus said it could not find any reports of mould or condensation in his house, but now it was aware wanted to "address the issue quickly".

Mr Holloway confirmed staff at the firm, a council-registered provider, had now visited him and were arranging to send a surveyor this week.

He has suffered from asthma since childhood, but said it had worsened in the past year, and believes it is linked to sleeping in a damp room.

"My breathing gets bad on a night. You can smell that in there at night - the damp. It's incredible."

He has been prescribed additional medication for his condition.

"I take inhalers and am on tablets. Some days are worse than others," he said.

Mr Holloway says he keeps the fan on while in the shower but it is not helping

Mr Holloway, a breakdown and recovery worker who has lived at the property for five years, said damp had affected all rooms in the two-bedroom house, including the attic.

"It just keeps coming back," he said.

He believes the 1950s home had issues which worsened the problem - including window seals that need replacing, blocked air vents and loose brickwork.

Mr Holloway said both he and his partner, who also has asthma, had "done our best" and spent hundreds of pounds tackling the problem.

They had stripped wallpaper and redecorated the downstairs bedroom "about four or five times now", and

"It's really bad," he said.

'Keep heat in'

Mr Holloway said they opened windows and use a bathroom fan to help.

"They [the provider] are telling us to keep the windows open every day and night but we are trying to keep the heat in," he said.

"Where we've got damp in the wall, the walls have cracked."

Steve Agger, director of property at Connexus said: "We take all reports of mould and condensation in our homes extremely seriously and are reviewing our approach to make sure every report is dealt with responsively and investigated thoroughly."

He said the firm was arranging an appointment "to survey the property, remove the mould and complete any other related repairs".

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has asked councils and other housing providers to improve conditions following the death of toddler Awaab Ishak who was exposed to mould in Rochdale.