Fairhive Housing Association say sorry to Wycombe tenant

Fairhive Housing, which is based in Aylesbury, came under fire after they were approached by Ms Ieshia Cyrus, who currently resides in one of their properties in High Wycombe.

Ms Cyrus, who has lived in the Cartwright Court home since 2018, told the Free Press that ‘persistent mould and damp’ was a regular occurrence, whilst she felt ‘unsafe’ after she reportedly nearly fell through her balcony last year.

Complaints were first raised in May 2023 about all three problems, and despite mould washes taking place, and the balcony being ‘boarded up’, Ms Cyrus claims ‘nothing is being done to fix the problem’.

She said: “My two children live with me and they share a room.

The mould in one of the rooms (Image: NA)

“My eldest is 11 whilst my youngest just turned six.

“I have anxiety and depression so I’m down sometimes, but I try my best to not show it in front of them.

“When they want their friends over, the mould does impact that as I don’t want anyone round as this situation going on.

“My kids and I are sleeping with mould and damp so it’s hard.”

On the balcony situation, she added: “I was told in January 2023 that my balcony was unsafe by a surveyor  – I complained about it in May because when I put my washing out, my foot went through the bottom.

“They boarded it up but I’ve not been told when it will get fixed, so we pretty much spent the summer indoors as the balcony is unsafe.”

Ms Cyrus then took her grievances with Fairhive to social media, posting several videos on X (formerly known as Twitter), explaining the current circumstances.

The mould in one of her rooms is very noticeable (Image: NA)

She also revealed a huge hole in her lift could have also contributed to the problems. 

Assistant Director of Property, Andrew Rysdale has since said: “Firstly we’d like to say sorry to Ms Cyrus for not providing the level of service expected, we agree this fell short of our expectations.

“We understand her frustration and we are working to identify the cause of the damp and mould and remedy the situation as soon as we can.

“Since being made fully aware of the condition of the property we have again visited with our in-house repairs inspector and electricians to assess safety and works required.

“We can confirm repairs are due to begin this week, which we hope will go some way to alleviate Ms Cyrus’ concerns.

The hole in the loft (Image: NA)

“We recently acquired Ms Cyrus’ property from Buckinghamshire Housing Association and were made aware of an issue with the balcony in May 2023.

“This was subsequently made safe until remedial works can take place.

“This requires approved planning from Bucks County Council and as soon as this is received we can complete the balcony works.

“We’re disappointed that Ms Cyrus felt the need to reach out via social media and would urge anyone experiencing dampness and mould to contact us directly on our repairs line 0800 542 8904.

“Once again, we’re very sorry that we didn’t keep Ms Cyrus informed regarding the balcony and completely understand her distress about the whole situation.

“We have remained in contact with Ms Cyrus, to support her whilst we resolve this as quickly as we can.”

The housing association also confirmed they have been in touch with Ms Cyrus ‘on a daily basis’.