A HAIRDRESSER has told how she is woken up every night due to the mouldy stench in her new-build flat – with her pillows covered in black splodges.

Kathrina Welch is then forced to wipe away shed loads of water from her bedroom walls on a daily basis – leaving her feeling "totally helpless".

The 33-year-old moved into the £215,000 Essex property two years ago but has been battling damp since October 2020.

Things really took a turn in the spring when she started to wake up in the night to moist bedding, wet walls and a horrific smell.

She said: "During the first lockdown, I noticed it getting worse.

"There was loads of mould behind my bed, on my wardrobe, and my pillows had mould all over them."

And it has gone from bad to worse, with Kathrina now reaching breaking point and unable to escape the "unbearable" stink.

"My walls are wet to touch. It's disgusting," she said.

"In the night now I wake up and it smells of that horrible mould smell.

"I am constantly spraying mould spray around my bedroom but it just keeps coming back. It's just constant and really stressful.

"It's in my bedroom, that's where I sleep at night, so it's so distressing. I've had enough."

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Self-employed Kathrina said she has been complaining to builders Persimmon, her housing association Sage, and her shared ownership partner for months but hasn't got anywhere.

When someone did finally pay her a visit, the inspector tried to blame the problems on Kathrina's "lifestyle" – claiming she was doing too many loads of washing and not opening her windows enough.

Kathrina, who lives alone in her ground floor flat and doesn't work from home, blasted the allegation as "ridiculous".

She has since had "about 20 visits" from various people, with each one finding a new problem, but not the one causing the mould.

This has included a "massive" underground leak, a roofing issue, rendering peeling off, bowing windows and potentially "sweating bricks".

The repeated visits to the Gilden Park development in Harlow have forced Kathrina to take time off work, meaning she has lost out on valuable income.

She estimates she has missed out on about £1,000 in the last couple of months, which has meant her taking a huge chunk out of her savings.

'SO DISTRESSING'

"Persimmon and Sage just don't seen to care," she said.

"They're probably going home to their million pound houses, sleeping well at night, while I'm sitting there suffering.

"I've just been told to wait, but how long will it take?

"It is very difficult to be taking all this time off work. If I don't work, I don't get paid.

"And what's worse is that there have been times where they've not turned up before and I've lost half a day's money or a whole day's money."

Kathrina has since replaced her mouldy bedding – as well as her entire wardrobe after "everything was ruined" – but fears it won't be long until she needs to buy everything again.

"It just feels very lonely now," she said.

"It's very depressing. You just feel helpless. There's nothing else I can do."

Persimmon and Sage just don't seen to care. They're probably going home to their million pound houses, sleeping well at night, while I'm suffering.

She also worries she won't be able to host her family at Christmas as the problems are unlikely to be solved by then.

Kathrina, who owns a 40 per cent share of the flat, added: "I just wanted action and the issues to be fixed.

"To be honest, I think I should be compensated for the inconvenience they have put me through and the amount of money I've lost and the stress of everything.

"It has been going on for over a year. I've been very patient, but it's too long now."

A spokesperson for Persimmon Homes said: "We have been actively working with the homeowner to try and resolve this situation.

"Two extensive surveys by a specialist damp company have already been carried out.

"Their conclusion is that there is no sign of damp entering the property externally.

"Last week we installed a dehumidifier to try and help the situation and will continue to work with the homeowner to resolve the issue."

Sage Housing was also contacted for comment.

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