‘We wear masks in the house’: Family suffering breathing problems in house full of dust

A family has been living in a house full of so much dust they have breathing problems and are forced to wear masks inside.

Rashiemo Edwards lives in a house in Varcoe Road, Bermondsey, and claims that she and her two daughters have developed breathing problems from the amount of dust generated in there.

Ms Edwards said her eldest daughter has been diagnosed with asthma, which she believes was brought on by living in the house, and her youngest daughter has been diagnosed with sickle cell disease which impacts her breathing.

She said they all suffer eye problems as well as a result of the dust, saying they “constantly itch and burn”.

Ms Edwards claims she was forced to stop studying for her degree as the symptoms had become too extreme.

“I can’t spend another week in this house,” said Ms Edwards. “We’re all so tired. I’m constantly in hospital, my children can’t breathe properly. When they sleep I can hear them breathe so heavy. We have to wear masks in the house.

“I’m terrified. My eldest has been diagnosed with asthma and my second is getting there. I have no family here. If I get cancer who will look after my kids?”

Ms Edwards said she had been to the GP repeatedly but they could not help her, though one GP wrote a letter to the housing provider Notting Hill Genesis saying Ms Edwards and her family should be moved to another property.

She and her children have to take up to eight allergy tablets per day.

Ms Edwards said she did not know how or why there was so much dust in the property but when they leave the property they do not suffer breathing problems.

She also said there had been leak and infestation problems at the property and that she had been complaining about the property for nearly six years.

A Notting Hill Genesis spokesman said: “We have sent surveyors to the property following the reports of dust, but dust levels were no different to what we would expect from normal occupancy. There is a building site within a few hundred metres, but too far away to impact their home. 

“There are works needed, including window sill repair, bathroom grouting, dealing with damp and some pest issues, and we are working to negotiate access with the resident to carry those works out.

“We have a home transfer application in process, which is awaiting a medical referral and documents to be completed by the resident.”

Pictured top: Rashiemo Edwards and her two daughters (Picture: Family handout)