Mother of four 'traumatised' by council flat mould

Glory Uhunarabona says she has struggled with mould in her council flat for eight years

A mother of four from south-east London says her family have been "traumatised" by living in mouldy conditions for eight years.

Glory Uhunarabona, 45, from Bermondsey, said Southwark Council had failed to address the root cause of mould in her home for years.

They were moved into temporary accommodation twice while the problem was supposed to have been sorted, but "the damp won't go away", she said.

Southwark Council says Ms Uhunarabona's flat is in "unacceptable condition".

The bathroom ceiling has been left with extensive black mould

Ms Uhunarabona said three of her children, aged 14, 13 and eight, have been regularly suffering with nosebleeds - something that began two years after they moved into the ground-floor flat.

Doctors have written medical letters for the council numerous times about the mouldy conditions and their impact on Ms Uhunarabona's eight-year-old asthmatic daughter, but with no impact, she said.

"They cough and sneeze and blood just comes," Ms Uhunarabona said.

"Seeing my children bleeding, I feel traumatised... I feel depressed for them."

Ms Uhunarabona says she can no longer cope with the repeat return of mould

Ms Uhunarabona said she felt "abandoned" and could no longer cope with the repeated return of mould to her home.

She said it took over both the bathroom and one of the three bedrooms.

"These children are stressed," she said. "There is nothing we can do."

The family have been moved out of their home into temporary accommodation twice, she said. Once was to Bromley in 2020 and also to Wandsworth in 2022.

During the first move, the carpets in their flat were ripped up and furniture was broken and left strewn across the flat, she said.

Each time the family have gone back to their home, the mould has returned, she said.

The family's furniture was broken the first time they were moved out for the mould to be cleaned

A spokesperson for Southwark Council said: “These are unacceptable conditions for anyone to live in, and we apologise to Ms Uhunarabona and her family for how distressing it must have been for the mould to return for a second time when she went back to her property.

"There is clearly a specific issue with this property which our repairs teams will need to address to permanently resolve the mould and condensation.

"We will also look into all the matters Ms Uhunarabona has raised and speak to her about both her family’s housing situation and what has happened.”