Clarion Housing questioned over ‘severe damp and mould’ that has ‘plagued’ home in Mole Valley

The family had repeatedly tried to get the housing association to clear mould from their home but was told “there were no funds available” to do the repair work, the March 25 Scrutiny Committee was told.

The matter was later picked up by Dorking and Horley MP Chris Coghlan as one of several damp and mould cases inflicting its ageing housing stock.

He was told that in a number of cases residents had to make multiple complaints and calls to Clarion to try to solve the health hazard.

Addressing the Clarion team was Cllr David Draper (Liberal Democrat: Dorking North). He said: “In December our member of parliament Chris Coghlan visited Louise and her family.

“She lives with her children in Mole Valley, in one of your properties, which was really plagued with severe damp and mould to the extent that in the children’s bedroom it got so severe the doctor advised they had to have inhalers to manage to get through the night.

“When our MP investigated, which we asked him to do, he discovered that the Clarion team, after several attempts by the residents to get hold of them and take action, were routinely told there were no funds available to do the repair work – including damp in the kitchen.

“You and I know that isn’t an isolated incident – there are plenty of them.

“But this is a real one where children have reached the point where they need a doctor to allow them to sleep through the night in one of your properties.”

The committee pushed Clarion on whether the work has since been completed and if there had been any improvements made to complaint handling to “ensure residents receive timely, meaningful responses and solutions” as well as long-term measures to improve the condition of the housing stock.

He added: “It isn’t a solution to say ‘we can’t afford to repair your house, your children must go on suffering’ – that isn’t obviously right.

“This comes from a real family. It does not require a response about figures, it requires a response about how you deal with individuals like this.”

The Clarion team said they were unable to answer specifics but were aware of major issues in many of their homes.

They acknowledged “very serious condensation damp and mould issues across their housing stock and that they are trying to be proactive as an organisation to improve matters.

Many of Clarion’s homes were described as “aged’ – bringing its own problems, with Clarion looking to retrofit any that are below an energy rating of D.

In these cases additional insulation will be installed and windows replaced to make them more energy efficient.

Where appropriate carpeting will also be used to insulate properties.

They added: “I would be very disappointed to see anything that suggested a financial reason as to why we’ve not been able to do anything and would like to see the specifics of that.”