Mum fears for kids’ health in mouldy Fulham flat

By Owen Sheppard, Local Democracy Reporter

A mum-of-three fears the “horrific” mould in her flat is affecting her daughters’ and her baby’s breathing.

Louise Harris, 31, said Hammersmith and Fulham council has “ignored” her requests to move to a new property over the past five years.

She said the mould covers the walls beside her bed, as well as the bathroom and the windows of her home in Fulham Court, in Fulham Road.

The council’s website said there were “around 3,000 people” on its waiting list for social housing, and that it can take “up to 10 years to be offered a home”.

Ms Harris was told by her GP there was “no doubt” that the mould had given her three-year-old daughter Harriet respiratory problems.

A doctor’s note reads: “There is no doubt that the mould is affecting Harriet’s respiratory health and that this needs to be addressed urgently.”

She also worries about the health of her youngest daughter, aged 11 months.

Ms Harris said: “My daughter has respiratory problems that get worse in the winter. She has a cough. My eldest has been living in this mould-infested flat for five years, and I’m worried it will affect my baby.

“The council have told me I shouldn’t do things like dry clothes in the flat, but where else can I dry them? And they said to not put furniture against my walls. But where else do I put it? It’s a one-bed flat.

“It’s on every single window, the sealant is crumbling, it’s grown into the plastic in the window. It’s horrific.

“All the council say is wipe it down.

“During lockdown I felt like a caged animal, I was stuck in such a small space with three children.”

An independent surveyor visited the second-floor flat in August, and reported: “The flat is not statutorily overcrowded but a high occupancy will increase the condensation associated mould growth risk and in this case rehousing to a larger property is recommended”.

Hammersmith and Fulham council was approached for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.

Pictured top: Louise Harris in her flat