A man living with a lung condition claims his treatment by the council has been ‘abusive and oppressive’ as he faces a daily battle with mould and rats in his property.
Errol Baptiste, 60, has been living in a rented bungalow in Northolt for over four years, having been placed there by the council because of concerns about his previous accommodation.
He’s had to contend with walls that are so damp the paper is peeling off them, and mould spores throughout the property which he fears is worsening his health problems.
He says he’s felt forced to pay for hotels on occasion, spending £400 in total, because the conditions in the property are putting him at risk. And despite the Housing Ombudsman ruling in his favour, there’s been no sign of a plan to address his issues.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “I live in squalor. It’s like I’m living in the Victorian slums era. I have to double pay – I pay for the rent, and then I’m paying for the hotel, because when I get sick, it’s just not safe.
“The council has offered me no support. They actually ignored my complaints for 35 months, and have done nothing. They take advantage of me because of my mental health, my autism and OCD.
“I began making videos about the problems, complaining about the state of the housing, and they tried to claim harassment, and failed of course. Their responses are vexatious – they victimised me for reporting the damp.”
Errol has lived in the Ealing borough for 36 years, most recently in Northolt since November 2020.
Before that he had been living in a tiny room that was 3.88 square metres for 23 years. Incredibly, he claims despite the council placing him there they had not visited in that time, and when they eventually did, they found the conditions were illegal, so moved him out.
Errol moved to his current one-bedroom Northolt bungalow in November 2020. One year later, he raised his first concerns with the council about the mould and structural condition of the property.
Despite several attempts to contact the council and ask for help, the authority ‘did nothing’, he claims. According to Errol, surveyors were sent to the property to examine the condition of the home – however no work was ever carried out.
In Errol’s bedroom, mould is spread across the walls, in every corner, above his bed. The wallpaper has been peeling off for some time, and the mould has also grown in the living room, the kitchen, and the bathroom.
In addition to the damp, he says there is an infestation of rats which have been able to enter the property through structural vulnerabilities and holes in the walls that he says have been left unrepaired by the council for years. This has led to the rodents leaving droppings in Errol’s loft.
A report by the Housing Ombudsman found severe maladministration in the way Ealing Council handled complaints made by Errol. The report states: “[The council] could not demonstrate that it handled [the complaint] with necessary sensitivity and customer focus on the matter.”
Despite Errol raising his disabilities and his lung condition to the council, this was never updated on the council system. As a result, the council refused Errol temporary accommodation, as his vulnerabilities were never considered.
Errol told the LDRS: “They never considered my health and wellbeing as a resident, and they still don’t. They are abusing my mental health and my physical health in keeping me in this mouldy property.”
Five instances of maladministration were found against Ealing Council relating to the response to Errol’s concerns around quality of works, the response to reports of mould, response to concerns of staff conduct, the general handling of complaints, and knowledge and information management.
In January, the ombudsman ordered the council to apologise to Errol, pay compensation, and conduct an internal practice review. It must also tackle the issues of mould and ventilation with urgency.
However, at the time of writing, no further work has been undertaken on the property, nor has an ‘action plan’ been presented to Errol, despite his ongoing lung condition. He remains in the mouldy property at the time of writing.
An Ealing Council spokesperson said: “We apologise to Mr Baptiste for the failure to investigate his complaints linked to damp and mould which was a finding made recently by the Housing Ombudsman. We also recognise that despite having paid the compensation due to Mr Baptiste, we were slow to write to him to apologise for this failing. A full apology has now been sent to Mr Baptiste.
“We are in touch with Mr Baptiste and have now been able to confirm a mutually convenient date with him to gain access to his home so that we can address the damp and mould. We will also investigate the issues in the loft. We seek to support all residents taking into consideration their mental health wellbeing and needs.”
