Lewisham: Mother says mould forced her family to move out of flat

Dariana Baez Peña says her children were repeatedly taken to hospital over issues caused by mould

A pregnant mother of two said she has been forced to leave her flat due to longstanding mould issues.

Dariana Baez Peña, who lives in Lewisham, south-east London, said she was also left without working gas heating and hot water for about a year.

Her landlord refused to fix the issues and put up her rent by £200, she said.

Lewisham Council said it had moved the family into temporary accommodation and told the landlord to address the issues.

London's mayor Sadiq Khan visited Ms Peña's flat as part of an announcement on measures to tackle "rogue landlords".

He said 300 environmental officers had been trained with City Hall funding to boost councils' enforcement powers.

The landlord refused to fix the issues in the flat, Ms Peña said

Speaking via a translator, Ms Peña told BBC London that the flat was "very good" for the first couple of months before the problems started appearing.

As well as damp, mould and no hot water and heating, the one-bedroom flat had a broken skylight that allowed rain water to get in, she said.

The family had lived in the flat for about two years.

Ms Peña, who moved to the UK from the Dominican Republic eight years ago, said: "The children were very uncomfortable.

"It was very, very cold. I was always in the hospital with the kids because it was very cold and there was mould everywhere. There was water dripping on the floor and everything."

No-one else can rent the home until issues are fixed, the council said

Lewisham Council said it had ordered the landlord not to rent the flat out to anyone else until the issues were resolved.

Mr Khan said: "This is just one of many examples across our city, 180,000 non-decent homes in London where there is a private landlord."

Sadiq Khan visited the mouldy flat as part of an announcement on measures to tackle "rogue landlords"

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