Horrific videos of a family's mouldy flat have sparked outrage as the blind, bed-bound tenant and her NHS worker daughter have been forced to live in the revolting conditions for years.
Housing activist Kwajo Tweneboa 's footage of the home attracted widespread condemnation after it was posted on social media.
The videos were viewed 100,000 times in just three hours on Tuesday night with viewers appalled at the state of the property.
BirminghamLive reports one resident said simply: "Tonight I am ashamed to be from Birmingham."
Despite multiple calls to authorities, the family say they have been stuck there for years.
Kwajo showed views of rooms in the house including a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen with black mould on the walls, ceilings and doors.
In a cracked voice the daughter, who works long shifts for the NHS, told Kwajo how repeated calls for help to Birmingham City Council had not been heeded or resulted in lasting change.
She said she had complained '15 to 20 times' and had also complained to her MP Steve McCabe (Lab), Selly Oak.
Kwajo says of the case: "This tenant is blind, disabled and bed bound after having a stroke a few years ago.
"The tenant's daughter is an NHS worker and worked throughout the pandemic. It's one of the worst cases of neglect I’ve come across, (with) damp and mould on every single wall."
He describes the living conditions in the bedroom in these terms: 'How anyone, never mind someone so vulnerable, has to endure living here is disgracefully inhumane."
In a series of videos he shows how the whole room is covered in black mould, with a bed next to the damp wall.
"I am literally lost for words and that is rare - how is this even legal to house people like this?"
He adds: "Every single wall and door is covered (in black mould).
"There are no windows and the extractor fan doesn't work (in the bathroom) - a pipe has burst, the paper is coming away from the walls, it's hard to explain how awful this is."
He adds in one tweet: "The same Birmingham City hosting the Commonwealth Games this year have people living in SLUM conditions - infuriating."
The property is described as being built in the 1950s or 60s.
Living in the house are the primary tenant, a woman who is disabled and blind after a stroke a few years ago. She sleeps on a bed in the front room.
The family tell Kwajo they have complained '15 to 20 times' to the council to press for urgent action but, when visited, are told the damp and mould is due to condensation from keeping windows closed and not having heating on enough - which the family dispute.
They moved there in 2008 and the damp and mould began to appear some years later. The daughter, who works 'four to five 12 hours shifts' a week in the NHS, said: "Nobody is listening to me."
She says the council and MP Steve McCabe have recommended treating the mould by washing it off, but the family say it will return straight away, as it has in the past.
Kwajo points the finger at Birmingham City Council for allegedly failing to heed the cries for help or make lasting improvements.
Birmingham City Council said: "We are very sorry for the poor living conditions caused by the mould in this property. Birmingham City Council have been in regular contact with the customer about the issues over the past six months and have offered alternative temporary accommodation on numerous occasions.
"However, they refused to allow access on each occasion so the work could not commence. We remain fully committed to treating all the mould in the property and will begin work as soon as the customer is satisfied and allows us access.
"In the meantime we have given them advice about how they can limit the mould in the property and are in active discussions about rehousing them to a more suitable property in line with our allocation policy."
Kwajo's tweets last night received responses from presenter Adil Ray, city MP Jess Phillips, Shelter chief executive Polly Neate and scores of horrified Brummies.
The people behind the city's Fair Housing Campaign, launched last year, urge other tenants to speak up.
They told Kwajo: "This report in Brum is heart-breaking. We know of others living in mouldy properties in Brum and this is why we are demanding in our manifesto that all properties meet legal standards and are of a standard that councillors and council officers would be prepared to live in."
The campaign, backed by Birmingham Live, includes a 'People's Manifesto for Fair Housing' to demand change and hold decision makers to account so no tenant has to live in these shocking conditions.
Londoner Kwajo, 23, lived in temporary accommodation and often shocking conditions as a teenager and young man. He watched his father become ill and later die while living in poor housing.
He recently told Inside Housing magazine: “No one should have been receiving medical or hospital care in those conditions, and I do believe deep down – and that’s why I continue to do what I’m doing – that it contributed to the speed at which his cancer progressed.
"Because no one should live in those conditions and it cannot help at all – he was constantly in and out of hospitals with infections,” he states.
The anger he felt as a result has fuelled a drive to bring about change for others.
He regularly posts evidence of the shocking living conditions endured by tenants across the country, and as a result he has been on the BBC, ITV News, profiled in The Guardian and featured in The Big Issue's list of Top 100 Changemakers.
On Twitter as @ KwajoHousing he has nearly 50,000 followers but his tweets regularly reach millions.
