How it feels to be trapped in an unsafe home during lockdown – and why no end is in sight

For hundreds of thousands of people living in cold, damp and mould-ridden housing, this winter’s effects could outlast the pandemic.

By Katharine Swindells

Last November, as the weather started to get colder and wetter, Chloe contacted her landlord about a small crack and spots of damp on a wall in her flat.

During months of back-and-forth between Chloe, her landlord, freeholders and the council, the damp has spread across the whole wall. Mould appears on anything that is left nearby, and still Chloe doesn’t know when it will be fixed. Her biggest worry is for her two-year-old daughter; she fears that her breathing is getting worse.