St Ninians mum left ‘drained’ by repairs wrangle after reporting damp to council for years

A St Ninians mum has hit out at Stirling Council for their handling of extensive repairs at her property - and insists the entire affair has left her feeling “mentally drained”.

Siobhan Marshall lives at the property in Endrick Place with her three children - two daughters aged 10 and five and a seven-month-old son - and has been reporting issues for several years with damp.

However, a recent spate of wet weather has exacerbated issues, with the young mum reporting problems including falling tiles, cracked ceilings and kitchen units falling off walls.

Council chiefs have been carrying out extensive repairs to the flat last week, including fixing damp issues in rooms, removing ant nests and clearing blocked downpipes.

But Siobhan, 32, has been left angered by their assessment that her property is still considered “habitable” - and she has now moved her family in with her mum while works are carried out at her own home.

Siobhan told the Observer: “I’ve been having problems in one way or another for about seven years, I’ve been wiping down my walls with bleach and the recent bad rain has led to issues with mould and woodworm.

“I had to wait six weeks after reporting the issues for an appointment despite the kids living here and the inspector confirmed we had rising damp.

“The issues have been logged on their system but I feel as if they have a duty of care and there haven’t been any follow-up calls.

“They are saying the house is habitable, but I’m having to put bedsheets down to stop mould that my seven- month- old child is sleeping in.

“I’ve now moved in with my mum, but this shouldn’t be her responsibility and it’s just been mentally draining; it’s just got worse and worse as more issues just start to come up.”

Siobhan believes that the issues with her property are linked to wider problems across her whole block - and has been left fearing for the safety of her young family if she is forced to move back.

“They’re not replacing the kitchen, the full wall affected by damp in the living room hasn’t been replaced, there are issues with leaks in the bathroom sink and exposed brickwork,” she said.

“I’m looking for temporary accommodation while everything is sorted because the little one is starting to walk about and I just worry about what could happen.

“Some of my windows are only six weeks old and are already covered in mould and I’m hearing units popping off the wall - it’s just about feeling safe in my property.”

In response, a Stirling Council spokesperson told the Observer: “Our repairs team identified condensation as an issue and undertook work to strap and insulate walls, along with additional repairs in the bathroom and to small patches of roughcast.

“No issues with the ceilings were identified.

“The tenant chose to take the children to her mother’s during the works and this alleviated the need to provide temporary accommodation. We also offered to undertake a full clean following the works, but this was declined.

“While the property has been assessed as fully habitable, we are fully committed to working with the tenant to address any ongoing concerns.”

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