A West London mum-of-two has spoken of her shock after being advised by a council officer to “securely place” her autistic daughter in a room while she collects her specialised buggy, after she raised concerns about the logistics of her living situation.
Lauryn Henderson, 25, has also been recommended to look to order more groceries online and to wrap her window panes in bubble wrap and plywood to prevent her daughter causing damage.
Ms Henderson said she found the advice “completely shocking”, and is pushing both Hammersmith and Fulham Council and her landlord Notting Hill Genesis to relocate her and her family to a more appropriate property.
A spokesperson for Hammersmith and Fulham said the local authority is “urgently asking” Notting Hill Genesis to find Ms Henderson a new home. A spokesperson for the provider added they are looking for a property which better meets her needs ‘but this could take some time’.
Ms Henderson moved into her first-floor, one-bed Shepherd’s Bush home in early 2020 with her eldest daughter, who is autistic. She said problems arose almost instantly, with there being no hot water or heating upon her and her daughter’s arrival. The situation came to a head the following year when Ms Henderson said she contacted Notting Hill Genesis due to worsening damp and mould.
She said the window frames were rotting and black mould was appearing, a particular concern given her asthma, and she feared her daughter would injure herself.
“She’s going up to windows, she’s biting windows, she bangs on the windows which she still does now because she can see outside,” she said. “And at the time I was obviously very fearful of her smashing through a single-glazed window.”
A surveyor was sent to the property by the provider in February 2022, who found there was ‘not a damp problem nor is there any issues with the sash windows or any leak into the front room’, according to a later report.
Enraged by the assessment, Ms Henderson enlisted the help of a solicitor and had a private surveyor conduct their own inspection.
The second surveyor’s findings differed to the initial report, noting following a visit in April 2022: “There is damp staining around and mould growth to the internal face of the external walls within the living room. It is considered that the excessive moisture is a result of penetrating damp through defective window components.”
Notting Hill Genesis has since completed the requested works with repairs finished last year. Ms Henderson however maintains she continues to face difficulties with her landlord, which she believes should upgrade her to its highest-priority band for a new home.
Her concerns primarily revolve around the needs of her eldest daughter, who is nearly six years old and has autism, sensory processing disorder and ADHD. Ms Henderson said her daughter, who is also non-verbal, has bundles of energy and needs space and routine to regulate her emotions.
She argued her current property fails to meet these requirements, and that the flight of stairs into the home, up which she has to carry her eldest daughter, eight-month baby and specialised buggy, poses a risk.
Notting Hill Genesis said an independent panel has confirmed her suitability for Band B rather than Band A, though she contests this.
“Every time I leave my property, I am placed in a position where I must risk the safety of one or both of my children due to the unsuitable nature of our accommodation,” Ms Henderson said. “I am exhausted and out of options. My family is being failed.”
A spokesperson for Notting Hill Genesis said: “We take matters of damp and mould in our residents’ homes extremely seriously and operate a zero-tolerance approach to its presence.
“When Lauryn first raised the issue we began work to fix the disrepair. However we found that the work completed was not up to standard and as a result we changed contractors which did cause delays. We are sorry for the length of time it took to get the matter fully resolved and Lauryn was compensated as a result.
“We have been in consistent communication with Lauryn and understand she believes she should be in a higher transfer banding. She has appealed this a number of times and an independent panel has confirmed that the band rating matches her circumstances.
“We are working to find Lauryn somewhere that better meets her needs but this could take some time. Nominations for homes generally come from the local authority and waiting times are long, but in the meantime we can support Lauryn to apply for a mutual exchange if a suitable option can be found, and arrange an assessment by an occupational therapist if she feels there are medical reasons her banding should be higher.”
Alongside her to-and-fro with Notting Hill Genesis, Ms Henderson said she has simultaneously been appealing for further support from Hammersmith and Fulham Council.
Currently a Band Two on the local authority’s housing list, which she has been on since May 2021, Ms Henderson is pushing to be upgraded to a Band One in the hope it will secure her and her young family a larger home.
Since moving into the property, Ms Henderson has twice submitted medical assessments with the council in a bid to be moved up a banding. The first was completed in 2022 before she had her second child. The council responded by saying she qualified for Band Two, a decision Ms Henderson requested be reviewed.
In its subsequent report, dated April 29 2022 and seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), a council officer detailed the various concerns raised by Ms Henderson, from the damp and mould to her daughter trying to eat objects including wood around the windows.
In one section, the officer wrote that in regard to fears relating to the windows: “I would suggest using cut-to-size plywood and bubble wrap to cover over the bottom 2 panes of glass.”
The officer continued to provide an estimate of what it would cost, at £108.92, which they admitted ‘is not cheap’ but deemed a reasonable measure.
On Ms Henderson’s concerns regarding not having a private garden or ground floor property, the officer found these were not ‘medically necessary’, adding: “You could consider ordering your shopping online and have it delivered to your home in order to reduce the number of items you need to carry in with you at the same time.”
Speaking to the LDRS, Ms Henderson said she found the recommendation to purchase plywood and bubble wrap particularly distasteful.
“The fact that they went to the lengths of calculating the price to tell me it could be delivered in 24 hours and the fact that they want me to board my windows up and to state that I’ll still get natural light coming in through the windows, was I think the most shocking comment of them all.”
“I shouldn’t have to live in a way where I’ve got to board my windows up for it to be deemed as safe,” she added. “Would they go home and board their own windows up? Probably not.”
Ms Henderson completed the second medical assessment in March 2024, again requesting she be moved to Band One. At the time she was pregnant with her second child, though her partner, who now lives with her and her two kids, was yet to move in.
The council deemed Ms Henderson to continue to meet the requirements for Band Two, something she again requested be reviewed.
In the second review, also seen by the LDRS, the reviews officer upheld the original decision explaining Band One placements ‘are reserved for people with the most serious types of illness or other exceptional circumstances where there is an urgent need to move’.
Responding to Ms Henderson’s concerns about lifting her eldest daughter and her buggy up and down the stairs, an issue she stated would be made worse once she had her baby, the officer wrote: “Issues such as the buggy being too heavy have to be resolved as you reside at the address and as circumstances change over time. You have stated that you feel it is unsafe to leave your daughter at the top or bottom of the stairs while you arrange to take the buggy up but there remains the option to securely place your daughter in one of the rooms while you go back to retrieve the buggy.”
Ms Henderson said she has since hired a solicitor to support her case, and that she will continue to contest both Notting Hill Genesis and the council’s assessments.
“I don’t understand how they don’t deem it to be an urgent need to move,” she said. “In terms of when they say about going down for her buggy, they want me to secure her in a room? I’m not sure which room they want me to secure her in, but those stairs are steep and all it takes is one slip on those stairs.”
A spokesperson for Hammersmith and Fulham said: “We are urgently asking the landlord, Notting Hill Genesis, to find a more suitable home for Ms Henderson. In the meantime, we’re working closely with Ms Henderson to provide support where we can for her and her family.”
