A FAMILY is being forced to live in a house filled with mould because the council won’t help them move.

Stuart and Joanne Hall moved into their home in Ramsey with their children, one-year-old Cleo and two-year-old Kane, in October last year, with the help of Huntingdonshire District Council’s rent deposit scheme.

The house now has mould growing in the kitchen, bathroom and under the floors, but their landlord has ignored the tenant’s calls to sort the issue out.

HDC’s environmental team has visited the High Street home but says there isn’t a hazard.

The couple joined the council’s housing register and were originally graded in the emergency category A, but the council has said it now considers them a low priority.

Mr Hall said: “We just want to move out: it’s disgusting living here. It’s a health issue as much as anything as my children could get asthma but the council won’t help. They just don’t want to do anything to help us out.

“We would like to move to Huntingdon or St Neots because at the moment I’m unemployed and keep getting told because I live so far away I can’t get a job.

“We have tried to sort the problem out ourselves but it’s too much and no matter what we do it keeps coming back. We’ve tried to ask the landlord but he left the country for a few months and won’t return our calls.

His wife added: “Cleo and Kane just get ill and sick all the time because of the mould. The environmental team say there’s no issue, but there are mushrooms growing in the house.”

A council spokesman said: “Mr and Mrs Hall’s application to the housing register has been awarded a low priority as they are not keeping to the repayment terms agreed through the Rent Deposit Scheme. Once this issue is resolved, their priority status will be reviewed.

“Mr Hall has reported that there are some repair issues with their current home. This has been inspected by the council’s Environmental Health team and no health and safety hazards have been found.

“Mr and Mrs Hall have been advised that their best option is to put their efforts into finding another privately-rented home, which we understand they are currently doing.”

The couple have been told to leave by their landlord and will be forced to find a new home in the next six weeks.