Rotten window frames leave mum and 18-month-old daughter freezing in flat

Adrian Zorzut, Local Democracy Reporter

A mum and her 18-month-old daughter have “been left to freeze” after landlords failed to fix their rotten window frames “for three years”.

Single mum Jael Israel, 31, claims she was told that the draughty frames in her Notting Hill studio flat would be replaced within months of moving in, back in August 2019.

Instead, she says she’s been given nothing but “empty promises” and now has to spend hundreds of pounds on heating to keep her and her daughter warm during the winter months.

Jael, who works as a content moderator for TikTok, said she spends at least £130 a month on heating, some of which is being covered by the government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme.

She said: “I’m just stressed. I’m a single mother and I had my daughter by myself.

“As soon as I could, I got into a job. I couldn’t just stay at home and get Universal Credit so now I’m managing a full-time job, looking after her and working from home while she’s here.

“I’m doing my best but I feel like I’m just not being supported.”

The 31-year-old said Catalyst Housing, which manages her flat, sent several contractors over the years to look at her rotten window frame but each time fail to carry out any meaningful work.

She claims that contractors were brought in to fix a jammed window in March but ended up “further damaging” the wooden frame.

She said: “Since my daughter was born last year, I’ve been reporting the window but what’s been happening is you have surveyors coming, contractors coming and it’s always the same story: ‘we need to report our work, we need to do this, we need to do that,’ but nothing is actually happening for more than a year now.”

She said gaps between the single-glaze glass and the wooden frame are letting in a constant draft, making her home feel like an ice box. There are also holes between the slats.

She said: “The only place where we can put my daughter’s bed is beside the window. We can’t put it anywhere else, so what’s happening is that she’s getting cold.

“I keep getting cold. I have some neighbours who smoke as well. Everything that happens outside – the smoke, everything – comes inside.

“I also have to put the heating on high, which is very expensive.”

She said her daughter is suffering more frequent and longer-lasting colds due to the constant draft in the apartment.

A Catalyst Housing spokeswoman said a representative would be visiting the property on January 6 and added: “We are very sorry we have not yet fixed the customer’s windows and are urgently chasing our contractor to ensure the problem is resolved as soon as possible.

“The timber frames require a specialist and finding a company with the capacity to do this work has taken longer than expected which has resulted in an unacceptable delay.”

Pictured top: Jael Israel holding her 18-month-old daughter Selah in her Notting Hill studio flat (Picture: Adrian Zorzut)