A COUPLE have pleaded for help after living with black mould and damp for months.

Malcolm Stevens and his partner, both in their 50s, have been forced to sleep in their living room after water damage caused black mould in their bedroom at Conegra Court in High Wycombe.

Both Mr Stevens and his partner have Bipolar disorder, and his partner is disabled. Coping with the mould has taken a toll on their mental health, he said.

He said: “My disabled partner is sleeping on the settee and I’m sleeping in the armchair.

“My partner has got arthritis.

“We are worried. Both of us we’ve got Bipolar as well, and it’s affecting our mental health. We just want the bedroom sorted out.

“In November, we had water coming up from the floor, and all carpets were wet. We got black mould and damp all over the walls.

“Workmen came around, and he took part of the wall down. Since then, they’ve left us like this, and that was November.

“Someone came out and took photos, but we haven’t heard anything. We keep phoning them up, and all we get is ‘someone will ring you back’ and they never do.

Workmen told him there was asbestos in the ceiling and walls, Mr Stevens claimed.

“Because she was sleeping in the bedroom at the time, she’s ended up with asthma,” he claimed.

Sleeping in the living room meant they “weren’t sleeping well.”

“We’ve even got black mould coming through in the living room as well. I got some damp seal and put over it, but it’s come through again,” he added.

To make matters worse, the black mould in the bedroom took over their build-in wardrobes, meaning the couple had to throw half of their clothes away because of they were mouldy, he said.

“We can’t sleep there. It smells there as well.

"Please help us, we cannot live like this," he added. 

A spokesperson for Paradigm Housing confirmed a survey was carried out at the property in December 2022 and works were recommended to “address damp issues.”

The continued: “The external work, which included fitting a damp proof course into the brickwork, has now been completed. We are liaising with the customer to complete the remaining works as a matter of urgency.”