A TENANT who has had to live in a house with mould in every room for more than a year has now been asked to leave the property by Environmental Health due to “safety concerns”.

The landlord has said the tenant doesn't ventilate the property and that she has been given a notice to leave.

Nikita Robertson has been living in the ground floor flat of 3 Clifton Road, near Newport Cathedral since September 2016 and has now been given a letter from environmental health saying she needs to leave the property by January 1, 2018, due to “safety concerns”.

The 24-year-old, who can’t work because of mental health problems, said she is worried she may end up in temporary accommodation.

Miss Robertson said: “They have given me 28 days to leave but I don’t know where I am going to go next.

“The landlord says it is my fault for not putting the heating on or keeping the windows open.

“He has done nothing - all he does is paint over it, which is why it is so bad.”

Miss Robertson, who is currently paying £450 a month rent for the two bedroom property, said she feels short of breath in the house.

“I need to go to a doctor,” she added. “It is heart breaking. I am not able to work because of my mental health and it makes my depression worse to be here. All I want to do when I am in this house is cry.”

Miss Robertson said there is mould and damp in every room. She said the front room is covered in mould and that the ceiling in the back room is covered in mould because of a leak.

She claims to have lost up to £7,000 worth of furniture and clothes.

Miss Robertson said: “I first contacted environmental health in February or March and the landlord has done nothing since.”

In the letter from environmental health from December 4, it said the property is in a “poor state” with “various items of disrepair and damp”.

It adds the property is “suffering from extensive damp and mould” which is associated to all three habitable rooms, hallway and bathroom.

“This is likely to cause a greater harm to the tenant’s health,” it says. “Following this, I have served a Prohibition Order - such an Order prohibits the use of both living and sleeping in the flat due to the safety concerns.”

A council spokeswoman said environmental health officers visited the property on "several occasions" and has now served the private landlord with a legal notice to ensure damp at the property is eliminated.

The spokeswoman said the council is now helping the tenant with a rehousing request.

Landlord John Straw claimed that Miss Robertson doesn’t “ventilate the property” because “women don’t understand condensation” and that he can’t rent the upstairs flat because “she is screaming all the time”.

In a statement, Mr Straw said: “Damp from drying clothes indoors, cooking and showering without adequate ventilation. Unfortunately, this can cause problems.

“Drying clothes inside in unventilated areas can be a major cause of condensation and moisture indoors, which causes damp symptoms and mould in homes, and can even be bad for your health.”

Mr Straw said Miss Robertson has been given a notice to leave.