Mouldy flat leaves Southampton woman at risk of homelessness

Robert O’Neill feared his mum Margaret was going to die after the 68-year-old was found unresponsive at her home on Odiham Close in Lordshill on Saturday.

The amount of mould is such that the walls, clothes and other items such as shopping carts and doors are covered with spores.

"My partner had to go in because I wasn’t prepared to find my mum dead. I was in absolute dread," he told the Echo.

The 51-year-old, from Hythe, wants his mum to move from the property - owned by Southampton City Council - to social housing closer to him in the New Forest.

However, because Margaret does not currently live in the New Forest and did not live there for ten years or more in the past, New Forest District Council says she does not qualify for social housing.

She remains at Southampton General Hospital.

Five admissions to hospital

Her son Robert, a maintenance planner, claims issues with mould at his mum's flat, where she has lived for four and a half years, have been reported to the council before - but the authority says it has no record of this.

Margaret, a former cleaner and carer who moved to Southampton from Glasgow in 1995, suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – which her son believes has been exacerbated by the conditions of the property.

She also suffers from agoraphobia and is on medication for schizophrenia.

On Saturday, after a few unanswered calls, Robert and his partner, Naomi Flood, 45, drove to her flat to check on her.

He said: “While in the car I called the neighbour to try to get him to knock on the door and look through the letter too, but no-one was responding even though the light was on.

“I then called 999 on the way to her house and paramedics got there at the same time as me.”

The mum-of-three and grandmother-of-five was found unresponsive without her nasal oxygen tube.

“They said that she was unconscious and not responding to them treating her on the bed.

“They didn’t know how long she had been without oxygen, and they told me not to rule out the worst.

"Part of me was feeling guilty that I was not there to help her."

Margaret was rushed to Southampton General Hospital's resuscitation unit.

Robert says it's the fifth time she has been admitted this year and while she's slowly recovering, doctors told him the infection is damaging her vital organs.

Margaret O'Neill is in hospital with pneumonia (Image: Submitted)

The dad-of-two is appealing for New Forest District Council to provide social housing his mum can move into when she leaves hospital.

He said: “For the last year my mum’s health has deteriorated significantly, she needs somewhere else to stay but at this point if she is discharged from the hospital, she will be homeless because I will not let her come back to this place and I can't take her on and neither do my siblings.

“Please, I am appealing for the New Forest council to help me get my mum the quality of life she deserves.

“She has worked hard throughout her life, she’s a very nice grandmother and great-grandmother.”

Social housing has 'set criteria'

A spokesperson for New Forest District Council said: "Decisions about someone qualifying to be on our housing register are made using set criteria.

"These, including for cases where people currently live outside the district, are shown in our allocation policy.

"If our tenants have any concerns with their accommodation, we encourage them to get in touch with our social housing team as soon as possible by calling 023 8028 5222.”

Southampton City Council said it takes reports of damp and mould in its homes "seriously" and has arranged to visit the property.

A spokesperson said: “We take reports of damp and mould in council homes seriously and encourage affected households to contact us as soon as possible, as the earlier we’re made aware, the easier it is to address.

"Our maintenance teams can book inspections, carry out specialist surveys, and advise on the most appropriate damp remedies and mould treatments.

"We also provide advice on dealing with damp and mould on our website, in our tenants’ magazine and in other communications materials.

"Unfortunately, we don’t have record of Ms O’Neill or her family contacting us directly, but we have now arranged to visit the property to investigate and agree a plan of action.”