A disabled mum of four says the potentially poisonous black mould that has covered nearly every inch of her flat spreads like wildfire as soon as she clears it.
The dangerous grime has covered the ceiling, walls and carpets of Alexandra Osei Bonsu’s home in Haringey, north London for the past 17 years.
It has been there for nearly two decades and no amount of clearing can get rid of it.
Things have got so bad it now cakes her children's clothes, MyLondon report.
The problem has intensified in recent months with thick dark spores covering their hands in the powdery black substance.
“Every time we try and go to sleep we really find it hard to breathe, me and my daughter are asthmatic,” she said.
“I lifted up the bed and when I saw the carpet it was covered in mould. My daughter tried to get her pyjamas out and they were covered in mould.”
Alexandra is a severely disabled mum of four children, two of whom have additional needs. Living with the mould has had a substantial impact on the family’s health and she fears what the long-term implications might be.
Haringey council says they are dismayed and appalled to see the conditions this family are living in.
As the property is overcrowded, Alexandra has had to sleep sitting in a chair so that her children can have a bedroom.
This has caused her incredible discomfort and means on occasions she has to walk with a crutch.
Her concerns were confirmed by an independent occupational therapist who assessed the home and deemed it inappropriate for their needs in a report. This was submitted to Haringey Council. However, there was a lack of action from her landlord.
Alexandra has been constantly contacting the council, which she claims has been increasingly unresponsive.
In January 2022 she sent pictures of the mould and received no response, similar emails in May and June were also ignored.
“I’m treated like the invisible tenant,” she added, “They said were going to get a surveyor out, but that never happened. I've been calling them nonstop and they’re telling me nothing. I called them the other day and they said ‘there's nothing on the system’.”
Alexandra claims a council-appointed surveyor from the company assessed the mould and said it would require around £10,000-worth of work to get rid of or they would have to leave the property. However, after this visit, no action was taken.
Outside the property, there was another safety issue which was only resolved after an incident took place. “
To get into my flat you had to go up a set of stairs,” she continued, “It was really bad walking up and down so they got a stair lift. But it broke because of my autistic children and they said they wouldn't replace it. So I asked if they could please remove it.”
She was concerned one of her children would hurt themselves on the stairlift because being autistic meant they were less aware of their surroundings.
But her pleas to the housing provider fell on deaf ears. After her son fell down the stairs suffering injuries to his head, they removed it two months later. In total, it stayed there broken for two years.
Dana Carlin, Haringey's cabinet member for housing services, private renters and planning, responded to the issues raised by apologising to the family.
She said: “I am dismayed and appalled to see the conditions this family are living in.
"We are working closely with Ms Osei Bonsu to provide urgent suitable alternative accommodation whilst we address the issues in her home.
"Haringey is committed to a zero-tolerance approach to damp and mould in our properties and we are reviewing our processes to understand how we did not identify and address the issues earlier.
"We have also streamlined our reporting process to ensure all reported damp and mould is correctly signposted to the relevant service. I would like to offer my sincere apologies to Alexandra Osei Bonsu and her family.”
