Doctors have warned that a Bermondsey girl, 13, could suffer “irreversible lung damage” if she stays in her mouldy family home – but Southwark Council has still not moved her out.
The council has threatened legal action – saying her mum Jemma Browne refuses to let contractors into the flat – but says it is doing its utmost to help with her problems.
Jemma, 41, has been forced to move her child to her grandmother’s house and can no longer host her cancer-stricken sister, because of the “extremely dangerous fungal spores”.
She is demanding a move away from her Dickens Estate home and, in a drastic move, is now refusing contractors entry to do repair work, citing a “complete breakdown in trust” with the council.
Jemma, who has seen her daughter hospitalised multiple times with respiratory problems and other conditions, said: “My daughter is having to stay with my mum because of how sick she is. She can’t go to school because she keeps getting sick.”
Jemma first moved into the property in 2009. She says damp has always been a problem but that it’s become particularly bad in the last year.
Panicked by her daughter’s deteriorating health, she says she submitted medical records to the council in late July and was told to expect a response in 28 days.
One doctor’s note confirms her daughter is allergic to the fungus. “If and when exposed to this it can trigger breathing difficulties and over time this can cause irreversible lung damage,” it says.
It continues: “Both Jemma and her daughter must be re-housed as soon as possible as this is now a health and safety issue and I feel if no immediate action [is] taken we will have to find ways of escalating this to the relevant authorities.”
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Another note says her sister, who has metastatic breast cancer, can no longer visit the home, with other documents confirming the spores would be “extremely dangerous” to her health.
An independent surveyor’s report, which cost Jemma hundreds of pounds, said: “Due to the extent of the mould contamination in the property, and the health issues of the tenants which could be associated with long-lasting exposure to excessive mould level, we are of the opinion that the property is uninhabitable in its current state.”
Three months after submitting her records, on Wednesday, November 9, the council finally agreed to move her up to band three – which applies to households with “moderate medical needs”.
But Jemma says this isn’t good enough and that she’s been warned that a band three priority could leave her waiting as long as twelve years.
A coroner’s inquest recently linked the death of a two-year-old boy in Rochdale with exposure to mould in a flat.
“Hearing about the situation of that poor little boy has made me even more worried about my own daughter,” says Jemma.
The council has also threatened her with legal action if she doesn’t let contractors in but Jemma is refusing to budge, saying she doesn’t trust the council because of their previous actions.
For example, Jemma alleges that, when she first threatened the council with legal action, Southwark asked her to drop the case.
But before she’d decided whether to drop the case, Jemma says the council’s solicitor called her legal representative, telling them Jemma had chosen not to make a repairs claim.
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Bizarrely, they offered to move her to Camber Sands, Sussex, while repair work was carried out. Jemma says this was “ridiculous” given the family’s entire life is in Bermondsey.
On October 17, she claims that she allowed a council contractor entry to do a mould wash, who told her he couldn’t do it because it was so extensive.
She says the council later claimed she had refused the contractor entry, which Jemma maintains is untrue.
Jemma has been forced to stop working as a beauty therapist because of stress and depression but says she is “terrified” about how she’ll afford bills amid soaring costs
North Bermondsey Lib Dem Cllr Rachel Bentley, who has been helping Jemma since July, said: “The daughter isn’t staying in the house now and is staying with the grandmother most of the time. She should be able to have her daughter sleep safely under the same roof as her.”
“We have a huge issue with housing and a huge backlog it’s not like there are multiple homes she could move into easily. But this situation is untenable and I’ve reached out to Housing Cabinet Member Darren Merrill and Council Leader Kieron Williams to say so.”
Southwark Council has said it cannot comment on the case as it is “subject to legal proceedings.” But it did say the council was “supporting” Jemma and that Cllr Merrill was working to resolve the issues.