Ashley and daughter have been living among the fungus for three years: “Don’t feel taken seriously”

Four years ago, Ashley and her then partner moved into the Intermaris youth home on the Patio in Hoorn. They were really looking forward to their new place, but during her pregnancy Ashley suddenly started noticing mold growing in the living room, bedroom and kitchen. “That was 3.5 years ago”, the mother sighs, while her daughter watches the film Frozen. “As long as that film is on, she remains silent,” Ashley laughs.

According to the tenant, the housing association has already visited about fifteen times to inspect the house. “But they haven’t found a solution yet. I think Intermaris is really lax and I don’t feel taken seriously.”

Cold floor

Based on the inspections, Intermaris suspects that the mold is caused by the cold floor. A crawl space was therefore made in Ashley’s hallway in March. Despite the rigorous surgery, Ashley still has the fungus problem. “The corridor has become dangerous because of the crawl space created,” says the tenant. When you look in the hallway, it is indeed noticeable that the laminate is loose. As a result, some ends are raised and a part is even loose.

And that, according to Ashley, creates an unsafe situation: “It is dangerous if I try to leave the house with the pram. The wheels get caught and the pram sometimes shoots forward. Intermaris told me they would place a mat, but now they have three months later and still nothing.”

heat network

Intermaris has announced that in 2023 the homes in the ‘Patio’ district will be made more sustainable and that both the floor and walls will then be provided with improving insulation. This work is in line with the plan of the municipality to run about 1,850 rental homes from Intermaris on the heat network. Last year it was still expected that the temporary heat plant for the heat network in the Kersenboogerd would start operating at the end of 2022. Today, however, it appears that there is a delay and that it will only be operational around the spring of 2024.

“Despite this delay, it does not mean that we will not already start making the homes more sustainable,” a spokesperson for Intermaris said. “Next year we will simply start working on all homes and ensure that they are ready to be connected to the heat network.”

In addition, the spokesperson continues to insist that Intermars tenants must ventilate the home well and that heating must be done properly in winter.