A family from Livingston are demanding action after asbestos was found in their home.
John Brown lives in Craigshill with his wife and infant daughter and after finding out there is asbestos in his ceiling he is insisting Almond Housing Association test his whole home.
John explained: “I was doing up the house and when I stripped the wallpaper there were bumps and holes all over the place and this plastic box in the roof so I phoned the housing association and they sent out a housing officer.
“We then got a phone call a few days later telling us about the asbestos and that I was not to touch it. They came out and only fixed one small part of the roof and said the rest was safe.
“I have been researching the dangers online and it says that landlords have certain duties to meet regarding asbestos and they are not meeting them. We are at the stage now with worry that we avoid spending time at home and just use one room for sleeping.”
He said the council fitted the plastic box in the roof in 2004 and believes Almond Housing Association have known about the asbestos issue for well over a decade.
John’s neighbour had a similar problem and had to have all of his ceilings replaced. He thinks this is evidence that all of the houses in the area could have asbestos dust in them.
He is demanding action and says his mental health has been affected from worrying about his young family living in the house.
His 12-week old daughter Lily had a gaping hole in the ceiling of her room so he moved her out and she sleeps in the room alongside her parents.
John said Almond Housing Association have promised to come out to his house again but first they have to complete two other jobs.
The association’s Brita Ingebrigtsen said: “We take our responsibilities in respect of the health and safety of our tenants very seriously and this case is no exception.
“Although previous tests have shown that there is a common type of white asbestos, chrysotile, present in Mr Brown’s property, this presence of asbestos does not in itself give rise to any danger.
“A repair was carried out to Mr Brown’s hall ceiling a few years ago. However, a recent inspection deemed the repair not up to sufficient standard and so we have decided to replace the entire hall ceiling.
“This is not, however, due to the ceiling containing asbestos but rather the fact that the hall ceiling itself is in disrepair. In this case a full hall ceiling replacement is our preferred option as a repair would involve cutting into the asbestos, something we would like to avoid.
“The remaining ceilings in the property remain in good repair and there is no requirement to replace these. However, we will continue to monitor the situation and should further ceilings in the property fall into disrepair we would take similar action.
“We would only remove asbestos-containing materials if they were to become badly damaged or if we were planning to carry out extensive improvement or repair work in a home which would involve disturbing an area of material which contained asbestos.
“The asbestos-containing materials in Mr Brown’s home are in good condition and will not be removed unless the situation changes.”
