A County Durham woman has slammed her landlord, claiming it has failed to solve mould problems for more than four years.

Chloe Cross, 31, says she first reported mould in her three-bed end-terrace in Crook in early 2020 and said rats have now started gnawing through her carpet and furniture.

But more than four years on she says housing association Home Group has not dealt with the issue which has left her son’s bedroom “covered” in black mould.

She said: “I am sure they wouldn’t live like I have been left to live.

“I look after the house in every other way but these things are out of my control and I don’t know what else to do.

“My little boy had his birthday party on Sunday and he wanted it at the house but I couldn’t bear the thought of anyone coming in.”

Black mould on the ceiling.Black mould on the ceiling. (Image: CHLOE CROSS)

Home Group told The Northern Echo it has tried to deal with the mould issues but has not always been given access to the property. The group added it had found no evidence of rats but would do “preventative” work.

Chloe, a stay-at-home mum, said: “The damp started around the beginning of 2020 – I had only been in the property about six months and it started really bad in my son’s bedroom. It’s nearly on all four walls in his room now.

“He hasn’t been able to sleep in his bedroom the whole time we have been in this house. He has to sleep in my room.

Chloe says she was told to open windows and clean the walls to deal with the mould.Chloe says she was told to open windows and clean the walls to deal with the mould. (Image: CHLOE CROSS)

“I noticed the rats around the end of March and it’s got worse the past few weeks. The amount of stuff they’ve chewed is ridiculous.

“The rats have chewed through stuff that I can’t afford to replace. My living room carpet has been chewed through, the sofa. They chew through food.

“I have even tried to move out and private rent but everything is so expensive.

“I have complained to them. I rang up, and someone came out and said that I needed to keep the windows open and that should sort the mould. I can’t do that all the time. It’s not the warmest house anyway.

Rats have chewed into the sofa.Rats have chewed into the sofa. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

“It doesn’t really feel like home because I feel like I can’t really live in it.”

Home Group said it had attended Chloe’s property on Thursday after being contacted by The Northern Echo and had “resumed works”.

Matt Pattison, Head of Maintenance North East and Yorkshire at Home Group, said: “Every time we have been contacted by our customer we have arranged visits to look at and resolve the issues they have raised.

“We are doing all we can to resolve our customer’s issues but we need access to do that.

“Unfortunately, for reasons beyond our control for the majority of times, we have been unable to gain access. We have arranged visit times that have been during the school day to avoid the school run. 

“We attempted to treat the issue in December 2022, and again in January 2023 but were only allowed access for one of six appointments made, which unfortunately didn’t allow us to resolve the problem. We were refused access in November 2023. In December we did gain access for one day, but were unable to complete the job because of access issues the next day.

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“We received no requests from our customer until July this year. We have arranged for a number of jobs to be arranged to help resolve the issues.

“We spoke to our customer on Wednesday evening to let them know we would be there today (Thursday). But again, we were unable to gain access for the first appointment this morning.  We did gain access for the afternoon appointment to resume works which is great.

“With regards to an issue with rats. We visited our customer’s home last week and found no evidence of rats. We have said to our customer we will carry out some preventative work as a matter of caution.”