Dublin mums driven to consider homelessness over mould-ridden ‘nightmare’ homes
Damp conditions, mould, and insect infestation is leading struggling mothers in Dublin to consider homelessness over remaining in subpar Tuath Housing managed accommodation.
Dublin Live has previously highlighted tenants who have described their housing situation as like “living in a nightmare” in problematic complexes such as De Verdon Place , Burnell Place , and Bunratty Walk . These reports saw further women come forward to outline the poor communication and bureaucratic silence they face when reporting their concerns to Approved Housing Bodies.
A Dublin mother living in Ballyfermot says she feels like the problems have gotten so bad that has no choice but to surrender her home. Nadine Garland explained that severe structural problems, cracks, and a collapsing floor led contractors to tell her she needed to get her family out of the house before “someone is seriously injured.”
With four children between the ages of three and 11 years old, Nadine has rented at the privately owned property, which is part of Dublin City Council ’s social housing stock and managed by Tuath Housing, for nearly four years. She has shared communications dating back to 2024, where she outlined her complaints to Tuath but things have only gotten worse since.
The cold conditions of recent weeks have only amplified Nadine’s struggles as black mould, “mushrooms coming out of the walls,” and repeated flooding are causing extreme anxiety for herself and her family. With a son with autism and ADHD, the difficulty of being a parent to a child with additional needs means Nadine feels she’s already stretched to her limit, and she says to be constantly worrying about her housing situation is impacting her ability to be there for her kids.
Nadine says everything looked perfect when she first moved in, but after around six months the damp started to show, the walls started cracking, and when she reported the issues all Tuath suggested was to spray the mould away, which “does not address the root problem.”
“There were mushrooms coming out of the walls and it was just problem after problem after that,” she said. Nadine feels her issues are just being passed around from one body to the next, with neither the owner, Tuath, or Dublin City Council taking responsibility for the poor living conditions she feels “trapped” in.
To surrender her home would mean going into homelessness accommodation, but Nadine doesn’t feel like she can stay in the property for much longer. “I should be getting out on health and safety grounds, it’s not like I just don’t want to live here,” she said.
“It’s smelly and it’s damp, it just doesn't feel right, so I wanted to surrender,” Nadine explained. She says her children feel the impact and don’t ever want to bring any of their school friends over because of the poor living conditions.
Nadine revealed she has a child with severe eczema and breathing issues who needed to be hospitalized, which she claims was due to the effects of damp and mould. A doctor’s letter from January shared with Dublin Live confirms they suggested “the necessary home repairs could be completed as soon as possible,” and cited the child’s breathing issues in the house.
Safety is a main point of concern for Nadine as the damp and mould caused her radiator to fall off the wall, which left her without heating. She also reported a broken shower door, but before anyone came to fix it, it fell on top of two of her children.
Nadine says she’s been in contact with Tuath, TDs, and councillors regarding her situation, but there’s no resolution in sight. She says the house does not feel like a home and it’s more like her family are “squatting” rather than being tenants.
Around the same time Nadine moved into her Tuath managed accommodation - across Dublin in Clongriffin, another mother was excited to move into what she thought would be her “forever home.” At the Grange Lodge Avenue apartments in October 2022, Ballymun native Shauna Caffrey was delighted to start her life after struggling in homeless accommodation for months.
However, within weeks, the problems started to rear their head as Shauna was confronted with flooding and almost daily evidence of a silverfish infestation. She has tracked her discovery of the bugs ever since, and said these creatures signify high humidity and were her first clues toward a significant mould problem.
Shauna regularly finds silverfish in her eight year old daughter's bed, toys, and in food preparation areas and after three years in the house feels like she just can’t take it anymore. There are structural issues that compound the flooding and she’s attempted to address the problems herself with tea towels stuffed into gaps in the windows and walls, as well as tissues to block the floorboards.
The walls and windows leak every time it rains, and Shauna has resorted to lining the floors with plastic bags to catch rainwater and stop it from further deteriorating her floor. Despite having done everything she can to keep her bills low by forgoing things such as Wi-Fi, she said she was shocked when her first electricity bill came in at over €900 for just two months.
Shauna is now facing an accumulative bill of over €4,500, which she struggles to understand the source of. Communication with Tuath on these problems has been lacking, and Shauna shared correspondence with her housing officer where she is regularly “left on read.”
Shauna says she fears for the health of her daughter, who was born premature, and has significant health concerns. “My daughter is always sick, her immune system wouldn't be as strong as the average child,” she said.
Anti-social behaviour in the area has compounded these issues and she’s dealt with violence outside her doors and eggs being thrown at her window. Shauna said she’s been left isolated and alone and like “there’s no way out” of the ongoing problems she’s facing.
The difficulties have gotten so bad that Shauna says it feels “inhumane” as “you wouldn’t put an animal in this environment.” “I'm literally flooded here with silverfish, they're everywhere. I've had to put masking tape all around the windows and doors to stop the breeze coming in,” she said.
Shauna claims she has personally got multiple people to look into the silverfish problem, but that when Tuath at last sent someone to investigate she was landed with a €400 bill and, when struggled to pay it, an extra fee was added to her rent to recoup the cost.
A report of leaks in Shauna’s bedroom saw a large section of the wall removed but never properly replaced. Part of the bedroom wall is being kept in place with tape and Shauna revealed its hollow on the inside allowing further cold to get into the house.
“The cold comes in and I’m dealing with warped windows. My little one is always sitting by the radiator while the blinds and doors move with the wind,” she said. “I’ve seen people get doors and windows replaced where everything that needs to be done gets done, but I’m three years like this.”
For both Nadine and Shauna, the issues they are facing extend beyond maintenance problems, damp, or mould as the primary concern they both voiced was a severe lack of communication. While each has received responses from Dublin City Council and Tuath Housing in some instances, in others they feel they are being ignored, delayed, and side-lined.
Without any clear timelines given for when their concerns will be addressed, both mothers feel like they are living in a constant state of uncertainty. “If they told me for example we’ll have someone out in the middle of March, I could deal with that,” Nadine said.
“It's the fact that they're coming back to me with absolutely nothing. And I'm just banging my head against a brick wall. I just need a response.”
When contacted for comment a spokesperson from Tuath Housing said: "Tuath takes any concerns raised by tenants regarding maintenance, safety or communication very seriously. We recognise how challenging housing-related difficulties can be for individuals and families, and ensuring tenants feel supported and heard is a key priority for us.
"While we are limited in commenting on individual tenancies, situations like this involve collaboration with numerous stakeholders and timelines can be impacted by practical factors such as access issues. Our focus is always on progressing works as quickly and safely as possible while maintaining clear lines of communication.
"Tuath currently manages more than 17,500 homes across Ireland. In 2025, the organisation received 74 formal complaints across all services, with 23 relating to repairs which is 0.4% of tenant households. While these figures reflect a relatively low level of formal complaints across our portfolio, we recognise that any individual concern is significant for the tenant involved, and we remain committed to continuous improvement."
Dublin City Council has also been contacted for comment.
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