A young mum and a pensioner are among tenants battling a London council accused of treating them as ‘non-persons’ as they languish in what they describe as ‘homes from hell’.
Metro visited two properties in Lambeth, both with visible damp and unsafe wiring, with the renters claiming they have to fight for even the most basic repairs.
Foster carer Vanesha Rose lives with her three-year-old daughter in a Lambeth council house.
The ceiling of her home fell through in January, and she was temporarily rehoused.
The family returned to their home in Crystal Palace in May, but the ceiling collapsed again in August when she was with her nephew.
Both were hit with falling debris and taken to hospital for their injuries. Vanesha has suffered from back pain and headaches ever since.
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Since the collapse, she says she has been locked in a battle with the council to repair the ceiling and address the water leaks that caused the problem. She also wants general maintenance carried out on the property.
She showed Metro the damage and the poor state of the rest of the house caused by damp and flooding.
The floors are bare and electric wires hang out of clearly damp fittings.
The lighting in the house is intermittent and the electrics are ‘shot’, Vanesha said.
She told Metro: ‘This is a nightmare. The council has done nothing.
‘I don’t want them just to patch up the ceiling without sorting the leaks that have caused this problem. They are not treating this seriously.’
She said her foster child has had to move into another home because of the poor condition of the property, something he is ‘very upset’ by.
‘I have a young daughter; we can’t have a routine and our lives are totally in limbo. It’s a home from hell.’
A huge pile of damp furniture and debris sits in her garden after the council failed to clear it.
She said: ‘The garden is also dangerous. After the first flood, they put everything that was ruined in the garden, then repaired the house.
‘But they just left [my belongings] in the garden.
‘We can’t use the garden and most rooms in the house are off limits because of dangerous wiring, damp and floors which are uneven and treacherous. It’s despicable the way I have been treated.’
Venesha is not alone in her battle with Lambeth Council.
Jay Allen, 83, who lives on the 11th floor of a tower block in south London, claims she has been living in a damp flat for decades.
The former actress and singer, who performed in West End hits such as Starlight Express, has been embroiled in a row with the council to overhaul her flat.
In 2015, council contractors cleared her possessions out to put in storage as they tackled the damp which had overtaken much of her property.
However, she says they were returned only in 2018 and dumped in damp boxes in her living room, where they have remained since.
She told Metro: ‘I’m not touching the boxes because they will say the damage to my possessions is my fault.
‘I’ve taken legal advice and I’ve told them to sort it, but they just ignore me. They treat me as a non-person. I think that’s what they do with council tenants.
‘When I was acting, I used to pay my rent in advance; sometimes the council had £5,000 on account. Now I dutifully pay every month and I am treated like this.
‘It’s disgusting, and there are other people in my block in the same position. Imagine how many there are across Lambeth Council’.
Jay also struggles to prepare hot meals since her gas was cut off. The council found the gas pipes in her building were unsafe, so replaced the system with electric.
That means she is now cooking on a hot plate.
She said: ‘I can’t have a proper electric cooker as there is still damp and water and electricity together is dangerous. Everything is a struggle in my flat; I feel isolated and left to rot by the council.’
Both women claim Lambeth Council pledges to carry out work and either doesn’t, or does it ‘shoddily’.
They told Metro they have been caught up in a ‘bureaucratic nightmare’ where departments don’t speak to each other and their cases seem never-ending.
Both have taken on solicitors to fight their cases.
Jay said: ‘It’s so lonely and it drains all your energy. I’m 83 and want a quiet life.
‘I’ve been living here for decades and was originally happy. But it ended my career early because I was bogged down in trying to get the council to do the decent thing and make my home liveable.
‘I know people in my block are going through the same. It’s shameful.’
A spokesperson for Lambeth Council said of Vanesha’s case: ‘We are aware of the repairs needed at this property and have bee in touch several times with Ms Rose.
‘We are committed to responding quickly to all requests from tenants and to carry out all repairs as swiftly as possible.’
The spokesperson said one problem had been contractors gaining access to the house. This is something Vanesha has denied, telling Metro she is not blocking works.
Meanwhile, Jay’s case is being looked at again following Metro’s intervention.
Pete Elliott, cabinet member for housing, said: ‘We are deeply sorry for what Ms Allen has experienced due to work required to her home. This administration is determined to address the historic failures of the repairs service in Lambeth.
‘My number one priority as cabinet member is to rebuild trust with tenants and leaseholders through genuine transparency and accountability.
‘In relation to the current issues, officers have made multiple unsuccessful attempts to access the property, and will continue to try to arrange a time that works for Ms Allen for repairs to be carried out.’