“My children breathe mold”

In the apartment of Safia, who lives in an HLM building in La Meinau, managed by the social landlord Alsace Habitat, the impressive mold continues. According to the CLCV association, the phenomenon has worsened in recent years, due to deterioration of old buildings and increase in the price of heat. Reportage.

In the bathroom, a musty smell takes your breath away. “My kids breathe it,” worries Safia (first name changed). Above a small window, the wall is peeling off, infested with fungus. The mother, the caregiver, pregnant for the fifth month, lives in a three-room apartment at 5 rue d’Anjou, Meinau district, with her husband, courier driver and her three children. “We are soon six in the apartment, it can not last longer,” she comments.

“The accommodation was obviously in poor condition. We had to paint and wash areas well, but we thought it would be limited to that. After a few weeks, we noticed moisture problems in several rooms. »

“If I did not scrub regularly, I do not know what it would look like”

“I have to clean very regularly with special products. I always have to think about it. If I did not scrub very regularly, I do not know what it would look like. »

On the kitchen wall, only the dowels remain. “The furniture overturned due to the humidity. There is water in the walls, ”says Safia and knocks on the walls. In her bedroom, where a baby is also sleeping, and in the bedroom of her two other children, there are small traces of mold despite her efforts.

‘He came to clean and paint the places where there was mold. He told myself that it was useless and that the solution was to destroy the walls, treat and rebuild. What he did was just hide the misery for a while. Systematically, the molds returned after a few weeks. »

Asked about dealing with mold problems and the number of people affected by this nuisance in his rental stock, social landlord Alsace Habitat did not answer questions from Rue89 Strasbourg. The territorial association of HLM organizations in Alsace (Area) and the town planning office in Strasbourg (Adeus) could not provide statistics to provide an overview of the phenomenon.

“Every month a dozen new people come to us to get mold problems. The problem is growing. Four years ago, only three or four people came a month. The two main causes are the problems of insulation, with deterioration of the buildings, and the impossibility of people to put on the heating because energy prices are rising.

Most of the time, we advise them to apply for alteration of public housing. Some have medical certificates that it is dangerous for their state of health to stay in their apartment. »

Categories Children