Kingswood Estate residents are terrified that their mouldy flats are ruining their families’ health.
Six separate families on the post-war West Dulwich housing estate told the News about the leaks, damp and fungus plaguing their homes.
Southwark housing boss Cllr Darren Merrill said he was “well aware of the issues” and that the estate “is undergoing £28m of investment in order to address the damp and mould”.
But in the meantime, people like Begum Ahmed, 36, a mum-of-three living in Ransford House, are facing cold winter nights in a musky flat. She said: “I can barely leave the house because I get shortness of breath caused by mould. My children all have asthma and we’re constantly ill every winter. My immune system is down and we’re always coughing.”
She says when she calls the council, they “hardly clean it” and it soon reappears. She has been told to wait three months until the next appointment.
She added that she has previously spent £6,000 on plastering the walls to stop mould seeping through but this only worked for a year.
Built in the 1950s, the Kingswood Estate sits on the grounds of Kingswood House, now the Kingswood Library – a “Scottish-baronial style mock-castle” built in the late 19th century.
After World War II, the now-defunct London County Council bought the grounds, building a vast council estate to meet post-war housing demands.
But since then, many of its 700 homes, which house over 1,000 people, appear to have fallen into disrepair.
In a September 2021 cabinet report, Southwark Council said it had begun “development of a specific damp and mould strategy, with a major pilot underway on the Kingswood Estate”.
Southwark Council told the News that works began in September, including increased insulation and new wall ventilation, and should be complete by March 2024.
A 33-year-old woman, who wished to remain anonymous, lives in Roundell House with her 79-year-old grandmother.
She says her home has become so damp that her floorboards have warped and that leaks in the ceiling have caked the bathroom in mould.
“The council has said it won’t deal with the floor because it’s not wooden, even though I’ve sent them photos saying it is,” she said.
She added: “My grandmother has sciatica and it’s getting worse because of the damp and I’m worried her health will get worse. I try not to get upset and frustrated.”
Debra Tapo-Ayodele, 57, of Holberry House, lives with her son and daughter, who have to clean the walls of mould every day.
In 2019, her son underwent a tonsil operation due to his breathing problems but his condition persists.
Arinola Fadere, 60, thought she was getting sick due to old age, but now believes it’s due to the damp that has covered her home for the last five years. She says her next repairs appointment is on January 10.
Local charity Paxton Green Time Bank has previously described the Kingswood Estate as a “pocket of deprivation”.
Councillor Darren Merrill, cabinet member for council homes and homelessness said: “At Kingswood, residents will see increased insulation and new wall ventilation as part of one of the largest investment programmes in the country for an individual estate.
“We aim to produce a template on how we address mould and damp, which can be applied to other properties as part of our new strategic focus on permanently fixing housing issues related to damp and mould in the borough.”