DAD-OF-FOUR Salah Sharif says he is “scared” for the safety of his family after living for years in an over-crowded and mould-infested council flat.
Salah, 48, and wife Dalbar Al-Barwari, 37, have stayed in the two-bed flat in Muirhouse, Edinburgh, for seven years.
He claims Edinburgh Council has failed to take action despite the family repeatedly raising concerns.
Their children - aged 15, 11, nine, and two - share the same bedroom and sleep in bunk beds beside mould-covered walls.
Pictures taken by the parents' bedroom show huge areas of black mould in a corner of the ceiling.
Pulling back the sofa in the living room revealed even more mould infesting an entire section of the wall, while the bathroom and kitchen ceilings were entirely covered.
They say there is a strong stench of damp when they enter their flat and rubbish piled up outside their kitchen window, where Salah claimed people in upstairs flats discard trash.
The couple have repeatedly raised concerns with their housing officer, local councillor, and MP - but no action has been taken to relocate the family or treat the mould.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583517504/1742347059/articles/mlvu1nWKEIIeNAzJq0sys/3288477728.jpg]
Salah said: "Daily life is very hard. Everyone in the morning wakes up stinking and smelly [from the mould].
"It's everywhere you go, down to the bathroom. Our health is very bad - for all my kids and all my family. I can't sleep in that situation. I wake up every morning feeling sick."
Salah said his children are constantly ill and suffer from a hot, dry cough, adding: "It's not normal." The couple are especially concerned for their two-year-old son, who Salah said wakes up "every single week with a cough".
They had to rush him to hospital in October with a temperature and chest complaints.
Mum Dalbar is terrified for her son's safety following the mould-related deaths of other tots, including Awaab Ishak of Rochdale, who died in 2020.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583517504/1742347059/ar...
Salah, 48, and wife Dalbar Al-Barwari, 37, have stayed in the two-bed flat in Muirhouse, Edinburgh, for seven years.
He claims Edinburgh Council has failed to take action despite the family repeatedly raising concerns.
Their children - aged 15, 11, nine, and two - share the same bedroom and sleep in bunk beds beside mould-covered walls.
Pictures taken by the parents' bedroom show huge areas of black mould in a corner of the ceiling.
Pulling back the sofa in the living room revealed even more mould infesting an entire section of the wall, while the bathroom and kitchen ceilings were entirely covered.
They say there is a strong stench of damp when they enter their flat and rubbish piled up outside their kitchen window, where Salah claimed people in upstairs flats discard trash.
The couple have repeatedly raised concerns with their housing officer, local councillor, and MP - but no action has been taken to relocate the family or treat the mould.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583517504/1742347059/articles/mlvu1nWKEIIeNAzJq0sys/3288477728.jpg]
Salah said: "Daily life is very hard. Everyone in the morning wakes up stinking and smelly [from the mould].
"It's everywhere you go, down to the bathroom. Our health is very bad - for all my kids and all my family. I can't sleep in that situation. I wake up every morning feeling sick."
Salah said his children are constantly ill and suffer from a hot, dry cough, adding: "It's not normal." The couple are especially concerned for their two-year-old son, who Salah said wakes up "every single week with a cough".
They had to rush him to hospital in October with a temperature and chest complaints.
Mum Dalbar is terrified for her son's safety following the mould-related deaths of other tots, including Awaab Ishak of Rochdale, who died in 2020.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583517504/1742347059/ar...
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Daily Record (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 19, 2025