A 95-year-old woman receiving palliative care has been left unable to use her breathing equipment due to power cuts caused by persistent flooding at her council-run house.
Asabu Laher, who lives in Clapham, south London, is bed-bound, blind and suffering from organ failure. She is receiving end-of-life support at the home she shares with her three children, who have learning difficulties.
Laher’s family say the house floods monthly, causing power outages – and that they first flagged the issue a year and a half ago. The flooding, which started more than 30 years ago, is partly due to damage to the external drains caused by tree roots.
“They did tanking [the application of a coating] around the walls in the basement many years ago now. But … the problem has returned. It is ruining the foundations of the property and the main electricity has stopped working with the amount of water in there. Over time, the foundations will become soft and the building may collapse,” said Laher’s grandson Maajid Patel.
He added the council sends a company around to drain the water after it floods, although the company does not always arrive. However, he claims there has been no attempt to address what is causing the deluge.
“We have said if you cannot be bothered to fix the leak in the basement then at least bring mains electricity points upstairs [to avoid power outages],” he said.
On 3 May, the water level in the basement reached 73cm, causing a total power outage to the entire house. It meant Laher could not use the machine that helps her with breathing. All the refrigerated food also spoiled. Her family phoned the council at midday, her grandson said, but nobody showed up to fix the issue after an initial appraisal at 2pm.
“I called Lambeth again at 7pm to chase it up and was told by two colleagues that they were due to come out for the repair. By this point my grandmother was struggling to breathe already as she hadn’t had access to her oxygen tank for the entire day,” Patel said.
“Unfortunately, as we expected, nobody came and at 11pm we had to put my grandmother in a taxi and pull her out of her home and into our house in Streatham so we could provide her with working electricity for her oxygen machine. We have had to use makeshift bed arrangements due to the neglect of Lambeth repairs,” he added.
Patel says he has struggled to get any “compassion” from Lambeth about their situation. “This has been a constant cycle for almost one-and-a-half year now and we have unfortunately received minimal support from Lambeth repairs. We are completely drained, broken and tired from the constant lack of care from Lambeth.”
Laher pays rent at the property, and her children are cared for by council support and relatives, who also come regularly to help.
A spokesperson for Lambeth council said it accepted its services “fell below its normal standards on this occasion”, apologising to “Mrs Laher and her family for any frustration and inconvenience this has caused them”.
They added: “The council has carried out a number of repairs to tackle leaks at this property. But it has proved to be a complex problem – for example, a CCTV survey has found that multiple tree roots have damaged the external drains.
“Our contractors will be at the property tomorrow to drain the basement and to work on the longer-term issues with the drains over the coming days. The electricity supply will be restored once it is tested and given the all-clear.”
In February, the housing ombudsman warned that Lambeth council had to improve after five recent incidents, including a vulnerable child left without vital repairs. The ombudsman expressed concern for how its actions were at times disrespectful and lacked empathy for the impact of its service failures on residents.
