Desperate mum pleads for help after being stranded in a mould-ridden vandal-hit Wakefield flat

Leigha Garey, who lives in Portobello, Wakefield, with her one-year-old son Brooklyn, says she has been placed in an "inadequate home" despite numerous pleas to housing chiefs and the council.

"I'm currently living in a single person's flat, which is very small. We've been on the housing list to move to a larger property for a year now, but the situation is getting worse,” said the 36-year-old.

Leigha, who works full time as a carer for Academy Care Wakefield, says not only is the property is suffering from mould, but she doesn't feel safe due to the amount of vandalism and anti-social behaviour around her home.

"There's been a catalogue of incidents that I have reported to Wakefield District Housing, such as tyres being slashed, cars have been keyed, there's drugs around...my son is very young and it's very worrying.

"People are dumping power tools, laptops, DVD players inside the communal area of the building and outside and there's even been excrement smeared over the buzzer and key fob door and floor outside."

She says repeated complaints about the conditions were not being addressed and she felt she was at her wits end.

"We have had damp and black mould that resulted in my son having to got to hospital with bronchiolitis due to breathing in the mould spores, as well as wallpaper peeling off the walls due to the damp and our personal possessions getting covered in mould.

"They’ve come out and cleaned the mould and painted special paint on it but the damp hasn't been sorted out and still have wallpaper peeling off the walls at the side of my son's cot - I'm unable to move his cot anywhere else in the bedroom as it’s too small.”

Leigha has raised all of her concerns to WDH and Wakefield Council and also the city’s MP Simon Lightwood – but as of yet is still waiting to get any progress;

"They told me that there was up to a two year wait," she said.

"We have already been waiting for a year already, and I explained to them that it was affecting my physical health as well as my mental health.

"My son is getting older and we need more space. They said that there was nothing that they could do they said that we are on the highest band (Band B) that we can be on, and that band A is only for people who are homeless.

"But I have since found out that it is also for people that are inadequately housed as well – which I feel I fall into. I work full-time and I'm starting to get run down with not being able to get much sleep. I don't feel safe and dread coming home, which is taking more and more of a toll as this drags on."

Leigha shared letters received from Mr Lightwood, which show that he has raised further concerns to WDH.The housing company’s officials responded in March saying that “they had treated the mould in February and the case regarding the anti-social behaviour was closed in November 2022."

Mr Lightwood said: "I was really sorry to hear of Leigha's experiences and I'll continue to do all that I can to assist as her Member of Parliament.

"Unfortunately, Leigha's story is all too familiar to us. There are countless people in Wakefield and across the country in a similar situation.

"Labour will support more families into home ownership, build more high-quality, affordable homes, make renting fairer and more secure, and tackle the housing crisis that the Conservatives have created over the last 13 years."

Mick Walsh, Executive Director of Housing at WDH, said: “We prioritise the health and wellbeing of our customers and are committed to providing safe homes for them to live in.

“We have been working with Ms Garey to resolve the issues she has raised with us, and have completed work at her home to fix any issues that were leading to mould and have advised her on how to stop mould and condensation returning.

“We take reports of anti-social behaviour very seriously and we were pleased that Ms Garey was satisfied with the action we took on this issue when we spoke to her in November 2022.”

Leigha insisted, however, the issues “weren’t addressed”, and has been in contact again with WDH since November to get these resolved.