A mother and daughter living in a flat riddled with mould say it has gotten so bad, that they have abandoned their bedrooms, and are both sleeping on sofas in the living room. Beverley Simms and her daughter Shenika Francis say that their home has turned into a prison, as the situation has gone from bad to worse.
The duo live in the flat, which is owned by Camden Council, London. Many of their belognings have been ruined due to damp and mould - including clothing and shoes.
Beverley and Shenika say that the council were aware of previous mould issue in the flat but claim the council did not inform them about these past issues until after they'd signed for it. They moved into the flat just over one year ago, in October 2021.
At the beginning of 2022, the first bits of mould started appearing. It has not only affected their living situation, but their lives and mental health have also been severely affected.
And the situation continues to get worse, as now even the sofas they're sleeping on are getting mouldy too, mum Beverly claims. She also says that all of the new furniture they bought for the property has been affected by mould, the Mirror reports.
The 60-year-old, said: “It was okay when we moved in. It was painted up and didn't have any mould or anything.
“My daughter did receive an email saying that the property, after we signed for it, had fungus and mould, but they didn’t say anything before and sent it to my daughter and not me.
“By the end of the year, into the new year we started seeing little things like my daughter said ‘mum I can see mould in my room’ but I thought it wasn’t mould. I thought it can’t be. Gradually it started getting worse.”
Beverley continued: “It got on my daughter’s clothes and underwear and trainers.
"I thought it was just in her room and didn’t know it was behind my bed, coming up in the wardrobe, the chest of drawers, the dressing table … everywhere. It got in the toothbrush holder too.”
She added: “I’m furious and heartbroken … it hurts me more that it affects my health. We get headaches a lot and I’ve had to have a chest x-ray but thankfully it was alright.
“The mould is in the washing machine so it makes our clothes smell. We’re not sleeping properly and I feel sick everyday. The fungus has damaged our clothes but we salvaged some things, we hardly have any clothes left.”
Beverley's health was so bad that her doctor wrote a note, pleading with the council to move her 'as soon as possible'. The letter said that the severe mould was “causing stress and distress as well as exacerbating her symptoms of vertigo and heart palpitations”.
A Camden Council spokesperson said: “We are here to help Ms Simms and her daughter. We are committed to help them to move to another home permanently as soon as possible and the process is underway.
“We want all our tenants to live in warm, safe and well-maintained homes and we are being as proactive as possible on this issue.
“Over a year ago, we set up a dedicated damp and mould team, who take emergency action and stop problems at source. We are now redoubling our efforts by increasing the number of people addressing this problem, reaching out to all our tenants, and we will be working side by side with tenants and their representatives to ensure every tenant has a comfortable home.
“This case is complicated by the fact that Camden Council is not the freeholder of the building, but we are treating this matter as a priority and are in regular contact with the family.
“Damp and mould is an issue affecting social housing across the country after many years of government cuts, which in Camden amount to a loss of £60m - £60m we could have invested in tenants’ homes.
"It is vital that central Government provides local authorities with adequate funding to address the issue."
