The body of a 61-year-old woman has been found in her Nunhead flat, although neighbours say they complained about a bad stench for more than two years.
Police discovered the body on Friday in a property on St Mary’s Road, after they were alerted to a balcony door swinging open and shut following Storm Eunice.
The woman’s death is not being treated as suspicious.
Peabody housing association, which owns the property, reportedly received 40 to 50 complaints from other residents about a “horrendous smell” emerging from the dwelling.
“My son was getting headaches – he was feeling sick,” one resident of the block said. “When I was pregnant I was vomiting all the time. I would ask my neighbours, ‘Can you smell that? Or is it because I am pregnant?’”
Neighbours first complained about the odour to Peabody in October 2019 and believe this is around the time the woman died.
Yet the Metropolitan Police have not confirmed the time frame of the woman’s death.
“We want to reassure the community that we are doing a good job, as Peckham is a tight-knit community, said a spokesperson from the force. “We are looking into this incident. It is definitely a priority for us.”
There were piles of unopened letters at the address and the woman reportedly owed thousands of pounds in rent.
Another resident, who lives next door, said: “she was basically a skeleton.”
“It’s disgusting. I’m just shocked. I didn’t know her very well but she would sometimes collect my deliveries. I came back from a trip abroad in September or October 2019 when I noticed a horrific stench in the building. It was so bad, I had to put a towel under the door.”
They added: “We repeatedly called the housing association because it was weird. The police came but they said lots of people had moved out of London during the pandemic and she could be abroad.”
Other neighbours said that over the last two years a cherry picker cleaned pigeons from above the woman’s flat, her door was repainted, window cleaners attended and scaffolding was put up right outside of her window.
Residents have claimed that their complaints were not acted upon in a timely manner.
A spokesperson for Peabody said: “We were saddened to learn that our resident has passed away. Our dedicated support teams carry out regular welfare checks with people who may be vulnerable. We did make repeated attempts to check on the resident and liaised with the police to try and make contact. We are offering support to neighbouring residents who are understandably upset. We are also working closely with the authorities.”
Harriet Harman, Labour MP for Camberwell and Peckham, has demanded an investigation into why the housing association allegedly did not listen to the concerns of residents.
She said: “You would like to think that this kind of thing wouldn’t happen in a block of flats in a busy part of London. It is shocking – awful for the neighbours and for the woman’s relatives.”
“It raises a lot of questions for Peabody and for the police and for the council.”
Peabody is launching a full investigation into all the circumstances surrounding her death.
A spokesperson from the Met said: “At 19:01hrs on Friday, 18 February police were called to a flat in St Mary’s Road, Peckham. Concerns had been raised about the welfare of a woman who lived at the address.
“Officers attended and forced entry. The body of a 61-year-old woman who was deceased was found inside. The woman’s death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. A file will be prepared for the coroner.”
The Met is expected to publish the findings from their investigation into the woman’s death in the coming weeks.