Seven years of torment with the mould and council battles that won’t go away

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

A mum living in a flat plagued by floor-to-ceiling mould fears the school holidays because she doesn’t want her asthmatic kids to be inside the property.

Angela Jones claims she has been trying to get Lambeth council to sort out the severe mould issue in her local authority flat without success for seven years.

The 45-year-old said the problem began in 2017 following catastrophic flooding caused by a burst water tank in her building and has resulted in every room in the two-bedroom flat being affected by mould.

She said: “Come the school holidays, I try and keep the kids out of the flat because of the mould. It’s ridiculous. They should be able to stay in their home safely. I try to stay at friends’ houses and family’s houses as much as I can. Come winter time, I have to leave the windows open.

“I am exhausted at this point. When the flat flooded first we had no electricity and the mould was so bad. It was black, floor to ceiling. My kids are getting sick because of this house. We’re all asthmatic as it is.”

Ms Jones spent 12 months pushing the council to resolve the mould issue, before getting housing solicitors SJS Legal on her case. Her most recent claim against the council was settled earlier in June with Lambeth town hall agreeing to pay her compensation and complete the repairs to her flat.

But Ms Jones said the council had so far made limited progress on the works and didn’t expect it to carry out all the repairs before a deadline in August.

According to SJS Legal, the council has now settled Ms Jones’s claim seven times. On the previous six times SJS Legal alleges that Lambeth failed to carry out the works it had agreed to do. Ms Jones has received £8,000 in compensation from the council to date.

Stephen Weston, senior solicitor at SJS Legal, said: “Angela’s case is heartbreaking. A family left to live in such damp conditions for so long is shocking. We have been determined to not give up on helping Angela. She deserves a safe home to raise her children in.”

A Lambeth council spokesman said: “We have carried out extensive work at this property in the past, including repairs and mould wash treatments and decorative works to a number of rooms. Unfortunately, some of the issues have reappeared and we have rescheduled new works to begin next week to finish within a fortnight.”

Pictured top: Angela Jones (centre) and images of the bathroom mould plaguing her family’s lives (Pictures: Angela Jones)