Mum says mouldy flat with rat infestation so grim she's scared her son will die
A mum says her South London flat is so mouldy her asthmatic son has been left ‘not being able to breath’ and she lives in fear that the conditions are so bad he will die after he was hospitalised three times.
Natasha Hodgkinson, who lives in Sydenham alongside Javell, 6, her other son Jayshai, 1, and her mother, says she also has to deal with rat droppings in their beds and crippling damp. The 24-year-old says she reported the problems to the landlord, Hyde Housing Association, and the family was moved to a hotel for six weeks for work to be done on the property - but nothing changed.
Natasha told MyLondon: "I am on my last leg, I am so worried my son is going to pass because of this situation because they are not addressing it. I am starting to feel very depressed. It got to a point where my son was having episodes of a whooping cough and just not being able to breathe. An ambulance came and the staff said it is disgustingly humid in here."
Natasha and her children Javell and Jayshai, who all share a bedroom (Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon)The distraught mum claimed that environmental health officials told her the family shouldn’t be living in the property. She said she even stepped on a rat whilst going to the toilet at night, adding she had caught ‘about six’ of the grim rodents - leaving her ‘so scared’ and unable to sleep.
Head of property maintenance, Steve Austin, apologised for the mould and said mould treatment, decorations to the living room, bedrooms, hallway, kitchen and bathroom had been carried out, as well as an upgrade to the heating system.
London flat for rent for £1,400 a month with bed tucked away in kitchen cupboard
He added: “I know how distressing issues with damp and mould are. We need to finish off some work in the toilet. We decorated the room, but could not complete a small area. There was a leak from the property above, we were unable to gain access, and have passed to our repairs team. We visited our customer’s home this morning to make sure that there were no issues.
"We carried out further mould treatment on some surfaces, and identified some new issues, which started after we completed the earlier work, which we’ll fix as soon as possible.”
Mould covering the bedroom walls before it was painted over during repair work (Natasha Hodgkinson)A Lewisham Council spokesperson said: “We have been working closely with this tenant and Hyde Housing to resolve the issues facing this property. We served a formal improvement notice in February 2023 after repair works were not carried out in the required time period and were subsequently informed by the tenant that works were carried out in March 2023.
"Having been alerted to further issues at the property this month, we will be inspecting the property and work with the tenant and Hyde Housing to ensure these issues are addressed.”
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