A mum has said her asthmatic son is ‘struggling to breathe’ because their flat has become covered in thick black mould.
Aisha Hussain, 31, said the mould appeared on the walls of her living room and children’s bedrooms at their home in Harlesdon, London, in November 2021.
Since then, she has contacted her landlord, who manages the property, and even tried using mould remover to get rid of it herself, but is now ‘slowly giving up’ because there is ‘no help’.
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The stay-at-home mum says her eldest child, 16-year-old Justin, is asthmatic and that his condition has been exacerbated by the mould.
He has been on prescribed steroids for three weeks and has to use an asthma mask to help him breathe.
Aisha said: "It is stressing me out. I have been to the doctor with high blood pressure and my heart has been out of rhythm because of stress.
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"I've heard of a little boy aged two die of this and my baby is two. This mould is at the end of his bed and at the side of the bed where he sleeps.
"I ring the council every day for help, but nobody seems to be there to help me.
"I have put in a disrepair claim for condensation and I have lost furniture and clothes due to the stains from the mould."
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Aisha shares her flat with her three children – Justin, Shay, 13, and two-year-old Shahroz.
In June 2022, she received a visit from Environmental Health staff, who said the issue was due to condensation.
Aisha says she has been told there is nothing her landlord or Brent Council can do to address the issue.
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"I get told to open the windows to ventilate the flat,” she said.
“In my room there is no windows, how can you ventilate a flat that just has three windows?
"One of my children has severe asthma, it has affected his breathing, he has been on steroids for three to four weeks and is in and out of the asthma mask."
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And it’s not just Justin that’s being affected by the nasty mould, as Aisha was also admitted to Northwick Park Hospital with breathing problems and heart palpitations on 18 November this year.
She was kept in overnight for observations and was given tablets to reduce stress, as well as being placed on a drip to keep her dehydrated.
Aisha now ‘doesn’t know what else to do’, so has set up a GoFundMe page to help with the costs of clothes and items she has had to throw away and replace.
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She continued: "Every property I have been in since the age of 16 has had a problem - I haven't had a home to call home.
"I don't have anywhere else to go and I can't go to a B&B as they will stick me in one bedroom with me and my three children.
"I am paying around £2,000 a month for a flat that is unliveable.
"In October, my case officer said I would get moved, we are in November now and I am still here.
"It is not just the winter. In the summer you can't breathe in this flat as there are three windows in total."
Aisha added: "When I go to the council, they fob me off.
"Every time I go to ring them, my case worker is on annual leave, and my case is not being properly looked at as there is nobody here to look at it.
"The landlord has come in and given me spray, I have sprayed it down and it makes the mould ten times worse."
A Brent Council spokesperson said: “It is our aim for everyone in Brent to live in a safe and secure home.
"We take concerns about poor quality or overcrowded private accommodation very seriously and inspect properties quickly whenever problems are raised.
"As in all situations like this, we have offered the family temporary accommodation and have also served a notice to the landlord to address the safety concerns.
“The welfare of the family is our upmost priority so we will continue to look for temporary accommodation that meets the family's needs and work with the landlord to see that any safety concerns are resolved urgently."
Tyla has reached out to Brent Council for further comment.
Jess Hardiman