A Melbourne family forced to live in a unit being “eaten away” by black mould have opened up about their struggles finding somewhere new to live due to desperately low vacancy rates.
The Powells, a young family of four, discovered the mould infestation only a week after moving their two small children into the two-bedroom unit in Melbourne’s inner west last year.
The black mould in their Footscray home is so extensive that it has eaten away at the drywall and prevented parents Joe and Amber from sleeping in the main bedroom.
An “oversight” with the property manager has delayed repairs to the home.
And while the couple has been scrambling to find somewhere else to live for six months, they have just been slapped with a rental increase.
“We just signed on for another year, because we didn’t want to go month-to-month,” Mr Powell told 9News.
“We were worried they would raise the rent again if we didn’t sign on for another 12 months.
“There is mould on the skirting boards, walls, in the kitchen and on the ceiling … it’s on every other part of our apartment, every window in the bathroom and the kids’ window, everywhere.”
A “human error” led to delays in the matter being handled by the property manager of the Powell’s home.
The family is now concerned about large cracks in the ceiling and the structural integrity of the premises, as well as the potential health implications from mould exposure.
When inhaled, mould spores can cause asthma attacks and even severe mould infections, usually in the lungs, although this is very rare.
General exposure can cause respiratory infections and flu-like symptoms such as irritation of the eyes and skin, a runny or blocked nose, and sometimes wheezing.
Grim vacancy rates and ever increasing rental prices have made the Powell’s situation even more difficult, with no resolution being reached despite multiple tradesmen having now examined the property.
New data from SQM Research found vacancy rates across Melbourne and greater Sydney are at 1.1 and 1.3 per cent respectively, with the median rental price of a Melbourne dwelling now $575.71.
Sydney’s housing market remains the most expensive with a median rent of $962.08 for a house and $654.45 for a unit.
Domain reported that Melbourne’s lowest vacancy rate on record was reached in February at 0.8 per cent, with Sydney, Brisbane and Darwin at 0.9, 0.6 and 1.2 per cent respectively.