Mum and two kids plagued by mould that reappears every three months

A mum, her partner and two kids are stuck in a mouldy one-bed flat and may have to wait 10 years for a better home.

Merton councillor Ross Garrod visited Bushey Court in Raynes Park on Friday with representatives from Clarion, the housing association which owns the social homes on the estate. 

On the final door knock of the day, the group met Lili Castro, who has lived there since 2007.

“I have many concerns” said the 41-year-old as she opened the door.

The one-bedroom flat is plagued by mould in the bedroom she shares with her partner and two children, aged five and seven. It gets so bad she has to clean and repaint the walls every three months.

There are signs of the mould returning, despite the mum redecorating just a month ago.

Pictures from before the redecoration show black mould and beads of water collecting on the walls of the flat.

The medical secretary said: “They always say they are going to do things but they don’t. The mould comes half way up the wall but I remove it and paint it every three or four months.”

In 2021 she opened a legal disrepair case against Clarion and claims she then started getting responses from the housing association,

Lili said: “The legal case has given me more responses. I don’t care about compensation as long as the wall gets fixed.

“When I received the letter about the leader coming I thought this is my opportunity for at least someone to hear me out.”

The mum-of-two worries about the health of her children and was shaken by the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died from a respiratory condition caused by exposure to mould at his Rochdale home, an inquest found last month.

She said both her children are up at night coughing and regularly get ill. Lili claimed: “I’ve been living like this for so long. I am very grateful that we haven’t developed anything sinister.

“My little one is always with a running nose no matter how much I give him medicine, I think it could be the damp.

“I actually got a visit from Clarion and a surveyor told me it was my fault, told me I cook here and dry my clothes.”

On the day, Clarion staff promised Lili they would check on the progress of the case and be in touch the following week.

Cllr Garrod said he decided to do weekly estate visits after shocking conditions were exposed at the Eastfields Estate in Mitcham, also run by Clarion.

He said: “Because we saw the issues around the Eastfields Estate, I wanted to be out and visible on the ground to have information coming back from different channels rather than just data.”

A Clarion spokesman said: “Ms Castro’s household desperately needs to move to a larger property and we are working with the local authority to support her with this.

“In the meantime, we are carrying out some preventative work in the home to stop the mould reoccurring and have already carried out a number of interim measures in an attempt to alleviate the issue, including a mould wash and a survey to facilitate the upcoming installation of new fans.”

Pictured top: Lili Castro said the mould in her property comes back every few months (Picture: Tara O’Connor)