When young mum Phoebe Adamson first picked up the keys to her house in Oldham she was overjoyed to have a roof over her head after facing possible homelessness.

But her joy quickly faded when she claims a serious damp and mould problem started to blight her new Hathershaw home.

For several months, Phoebe alleges she has had to “battle” with her housing association about the recurrent mould, while she watched the health of her two daughters, Ivy-Rae, four, and nine-month old baby Isla-Mae, deteriorate.

She said: “My eldest daughter’s bedroom had so much damp at one point it became riddled with woodlice.

“And my living room carpet has been soaked for 18 months. I don’t want to put my baby on there. There’s mould all around the house.”

Since the tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in December 2020, the issue of uninhabitable conditions in rented housing has been in the spotlight.

Awaab, who was described as ‘full of life’, was found to have died as a result of the mould in a Rochdale apartment owned by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, who failed to make the necessary repairs that could have saved his life.

A campaign resulted in the creation of Awaab’s law in 2023. Landlords now must investigate emergency hazards like mould within two weeks and fix them within 21 days.

But even with the law in place, many residents like Phoebe claim they are still suffering from poor quality housing with persistent damp issues.

Phoebe, who has lived in the house for four years, said: “I find it disgusting. I’ve told them on multiple occasions that my kids are getting poorly from the damp and mould.”

When a reporter visited Phoebe’s house, the mould had recently been treated. But the carpet felt damp to touch and mould remained around the seal of the windows of her home. The property smelt damp and was very humid inside.

Photos of her home show a rotting skirting board and a children’s jacket seeded with white and black mould.

Phoebe claims she has contacted a repair worker for Manchester Bumblebee, who manages her house, at least seven times in the last three months alone. But claims her calls would go unanswered or call-backs would result in short-lived fixes. At times, she says, she is told to clean the mould herself.

She said: “The first time I found the mould was above the front door. They came out and sprayed it and painted over it. Then it came back. This time in my bedroom and the bathroom. They did come out again – but this time just sprayed it and left it.

“The third time it came back even worse – in my daughter’s bedroom, my living room, all around the house. Around the same time my bath started leaking through my kitchen ceiling.

“I was told they’d send contractors to fix the leak – that I should ask them if they had any mould spray and wipe it myself.”

Though the housing association recently visited to re-treat the mould, Phoebe claims that after just a week of rain, it had returned.

While she claims the damp persists, the mum of two is concerned about her daughters. Both she and her eldest have frequent coughs and chest infections, according to Phoebe.

She said: “My eldest daughter is constantly saying ‘Mum I don’t want to live in this house, I don’t like living here’. She absolutely hates it. It’s horrible when your child is not comfortable in your house.”

But it’s her baby she’s most worried about.

The night before she spoke to the press, Phoebe said she had been kept awake all night by the sound of Isla-Mae coughing and crying. The child has visited the GP and A&E on several occasions.

In medical notes, doctors make reference to ‘damp in the house’ and diagnosed baby Isla with separate cases of a lung infection and a viral wheeze in the space of two months. She was sent home from hospital with an asthma inhaler and a baby-mask, which Phoebe now uses on her whenever she is struggling to catch her breath.

“Every time she’s at home with me, she’s always poorly,” claims Phoebe, who co-parents with her ex. “She’s fine when she’s at her dad’s because he doesn’t have any mould problems. As soon as she’s back here that’s it.”

The ordeal has taken its toll on the 24-year-old too.

“I suffer with depression as well and I just feel abandoned. I feel like I have no support.”

While the mother of two still reports her mould issues to the housing organisation, which was started in 2020 and is registered to a London address, she is now looking at other routes to find a more permanent solution, including seeking legal advice from a solicitor.

Several attempts were made to contact Manchester Bumblebee for a response.