'Angry' Northampton mother criticises council house provider for 'depriving her severely autistic son of a safe home'

A Northampton mother has criticised the council's housing provider as “disgusting” and is calling on them to “make her home safe” for her severely autistic son.

Rosa Chirico, 37, moved into her Northampton Partnership Homes (NPH) property in Camp Hill last June with her five-year-old son.

She says that damp and mould started to become an issue early on in their tenancy, which has led to her son becoming quite ill.

Rosa said: "Doctors wanted to know what's causing him to get so ill all the time so they did a blood test and it shows that he's been exposed to mould spores and he's now developed an allergy.

"This property has just caused so many problems for my little boy. I don't care about me, I care about him. I'm disgusted with everything. To treat someone with special needs like that, NPH needs exposing. It's disgusting. They need to sort this out because of the severity of it. It's not right."

The mother has also called for NPH to make her garden safe to play as at the moment it is “not fit” for purpose, according to Rosa.

She says it was agreed by both parties in August that artificial grass would be fitted to make it safe, but Rosa says NPH has now gone back on its word.

She said: "I'm really angry. How can they say it's okay then all of a sudden they've run out of money, because that's what it is, it's to do with budget but that's not my problem as a tenant.

"You've promised me something that will help my child and you've taken it away.

"NPH is depriving my child, who has got special needs, of a safe environment to play in. It's as simple as that."

Asked for a solution, Rosa said NPH needs to fix the garden and remove the mould or move her to another, more suitable, home.

She said: "I want all the mould and damp gone completely so my son doesn't have to suffer and I want the garden done so he can just go and play. If they can't do it they should move me. I just want somewhere safe for my son."

Winston Williams, director of asset management at NPH apologised to Rosa.

Mr Williams said: “I apologise to Miss Chirico for the issues she has experienced with mould in her home. We have visited previously to try to remedy the issue with the mould however, the work carried out was not successful.

“I am also sorry that there has been issues with completing the work in Miss Chirico’s garden. We have already laid a new patio and levelled the garden area, removing rocks and plastic.”

Mr Williams said there is “still work to be done” and is sending associates to Rosa’s home on Thursday, October 20 to fix the mould, “better understand her son’s clinical needs and to reach an agreement about any further work required to make the garden safe”.