Long-suffering housing association residents demand repairs

Sidi Court near Turnpike Lane suffers from damp and mould as well as pest infestations, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Sidi Court (credit Google) and some of the mould and other issues

Damp, mould and mice have left tenants in a residential block near Turnpike Lane “suffering” and “stressed”.

Iola Isaac, who’s lived in Sidi Court for a year, said the “whole block is infested” and “lots of tenants have got mould, there’s mice, there’s lots of things wrong”.

Housing association Notting Hill Genesis (NHG), which manages the 55-home building, said it was working with a new pest control firm and had appointed more contractors to undertake work to remove the mould.

One resident, Ruthie Olaiya, said she’d suffered with mould and damp for nearly seven years. She said there was mould in every room in her property which she shares with her two teenage children.

Explaining how she’d slept on her sofa for the past six years to escape the mould in her bedroom, Ruthie said: “I’ve stopped paying the rent, every night I’m coughing, the sink in the bathroom has mould, there’s leaks, there’s water running down the doors.

“You can see the damp when you come into the house, we don’t know where to store our shoes, we don’t know what to do anymore.”

Ruthie said both of her children had sickle cell anemia, a disease that makes people more vulnerable to infection, and all three had experienced worsening respiratory problems.

To help her situation, Ruthie said she’d joined the London Renter’s Union but said despite having meetings with NHG, tenants were still being “treated badly”.

“They don’t care, they’re not doing anything, after work I want to come home and relax, but we struggle sleeping, I’ve never owed NHG a dime of rent,” she said.

Iola, who was decanted to Sidi Court after her previous NHG-managed property was found to be unsuitable to live in, said she demanded her new home be mouse proofed.

Prior to living in Sidi Court, Iola was moved 35 times by NHG, between hotels, Airbnbs and Premier Inns, after her previous property in Tottenham had damp, rats, mould, and a leak over the electric socket. The electrical issues led to an fire in December 2022.

She said NHG offered her “miniscule compensation” for her experiences at the Tottenham property and for the moves and she hadn’t accepted it and was in dispute with the housing association currently.

A Notting Hill Genesis spokesperson said: “We are aware of pest issues at Sidi Court, which are consistent with buildings of that era that are close to the underground network, and we are working with a new pest control contractor who is delivering both a treatment plan and a strategy for future prevention. The final stage of the treatment plan ends this week and we have already received positive feedback from affected residents.

“There have been reports of condensation causing mould within the building and we have identified improvements to the ventilation and have appointed contractors to undertake that work.

“We know Iola has raised issues with us over a number of years and we are pleased to have found her a permanent home where she and her daughter can settle in the long-term. We remain in regular communication to ensure any problems are quickly identified and resolved.”

“We have made a considerable compensation offer which is fair and appropriate, and we continue to engage with Iola.”

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