Tottenham bedroom abandoned as black mould makes it unlivable

Haringey Council says it is “committed to resolving and repairing the property” but family say they have been complaining about the problem for six years, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

Mould at Elena Michael's property (submitted) — Mould at Elena Michael’s property (submitted)

A Tottenham couple have been forced out of their bedroom and now sleep in the living room because of persistent mould in their council home.

Elena Michael, who lives in Whitehall Street with her husband and four children, says half of her property’s upstairs ceiling is covered with what “looks 100% like black mould” and she fears for their health.

She says she has been complaining about the issue for more than six years, but in 2019 a Haringey Council housing manager claimed to be unable to detect damp and sent contractors to strip the wallpaper and repaint the walls.

After four months, the damp came back and was even worse than before.

Elena and her husband have moved their bed to the living room, which they share with their three-month old child. She says the mould is now affecting their health – her eldest daughter has been given an inhaler by the doctor, another suffers from rashes and her youngest child has experienced breathing difficulties.

“I feel so depressed and fed up and angry,” Elena said. “It puts my mood so low […] We now use the downstairs living room as our room. We have restricted any visitors to come over, making me feel so lonely.”

Elena said that when private contractors visited to paint the property, one of them “clearly said” the mould would come back. She claims the problem is being caused by cracks in upstairs balconies letting water in, and the council knows this because her neighbours have similar problems.

As well as failing to fix the damp and mould issues, Elena says the council has failed to carry out other repairs. She said a carpet in her property was damaged by a “huge leak” caused by a burst pipe, leaving a “huge dark mark” on it – but it has not been replaced.

The property also has broken plug sockets with exposed wires. Elena added that the council “fixed one of the open wire sockets and said they kept the job open to get the other sockets fixed but days, weeks and years passed, and no-one showed up to fix it”.

Elena added her eldest daughter’s mental health was also being affected by the problems. “She can’t invite friends over because of the embarrassment. This has caused frustrating arguments between me and my husband. We always argue over the state of our home.”

Elena said she’d “had enough of being neglected and broken agreements from the council” and had referred the case to her solicitors.

Sarah Williams, the council’s cabinet member for housing services, private renters and planning, said: “We have made it a priority to undertake a thorough inspection to establish the underlying causes of the leak, damp, and mould and agree to a comprehensive work schedule.

“The tenants’ externally appointed expert is awaiting further instructions from the solicitors before a joint inspection with us can be carried out. We are committed to resolving and repairing the property and ensuring the root cause of the damp and mould is rectified.

“We are committed to significant improvements in our housing services. We are investing £5million on our front-line service to improve our management of council homes and ensure they are well maintained.

“Key amongst the changes will be a complete overhaul of the repairs service so that tenants do not have to wait long periods for issues to be resolved and we can provide a high-quality service that our residents deserve.”

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