A mum who says she has been "forced" to put her kids through the window to get into the house when it rains has lashed out at her housing provider.
Demi Bounaimes, who lives in Newham, London with her two daughters - including one that is disabled - has said that her current housing conditions have caused her "anxiety, depression and panic attacks" over the last three years she has lived at the property managed by developers, L&Q.
As her housing conditions worsened, the mum-of-two says she was using a bucket as a toilet as she waited eight weeks for urgent repairs to be done when damp saw it come away from the wall.
She also claims the rental property has a flea and rat infestation and has spent hundreds of pounds on pest control and cleaning products, My London reports.
Demi, who is a full time carer for her eldest daughter said: "L&Q are awful, they don't want to send pest control, they've left us without a toilet and it's still flooding so we can't leave the property. I have to move the kids through the window to get them out of the property - who puts their kids through a living room window because they can't get through their front door? It's a lot.
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"All my clothes and carpet was infested and I had to pay people to come out because L&Q took so long sending someone out."
Demi added that her children are now too scared to use the toilet in case "a rat crawls up (my leg)".
Demi says she regularly suffers nervous breakdowns because of the reality of her housing situation, adding: "I suffer panic attacks and depression due to PTSD, I feel like I'm suffocating in this house, that's how I feel. I don't know what else to do with them, I just feel like crying. It's just me on my own, fighting these scumbags but it's a business, they're a business and they don't care about us."
She said that L&Q "need to be held accountable" for their actions.
"I've lost all of my pride, my confidence has gone. I'm always cleaning, I've done my best here, I try to make it the best home for (my kids)," she said.
She added: "I'm a single parent on a low income, not once have L&Q offered to reimburse us. They don't even talk to me anymore. It's got to the point where I don't even know where I stand anymore.
"My kids are entitled to live in a home in 2022 that meets English rental laws, and that they're not worried if mummy has to check the bed if there's rats in there, or if mummy has to use spray all the time - and having a space for my daughters to play outside in."
After MyLondon contacted L&Q, they told the publication Demi's toilet was fixed within four weeks, and that they are in contact with her "fortnightly".
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An L&Q spokesperson said: "Every resident deserves a home they feel safe and happy in, and we’re sorry that this wasn’t the case for Ms Bounaime. We’ve been working with Ms Bounaime since last year to ensure she has a home which is suitable for her and her family’s needs and have been in contact with her again this week, to update her. We’ve also committed to calling her fortnightly with an update on this process.
"We have visited Ms Bounaime’s home on a number of occasions over the last few years to complete various repairs. Pest control have previously visited her home and carried out treatments, and we've asked them to visit her home again.
"An issue with the toilet cistern was reported on November 1, 2021, and we attended as an emergency, however we were advised an asbestos survey would be needed before the repair could be completed. The cistern was replaced on November 26, 2021. This took too long and we’re sorry for the inconvenience this caused.
