Tulse Hill residents call on council to deal with years of widespread wetness – South London News

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Residents living on a run-down property where the mold is so bad one family’s children have to sleep in the living room have urged the local council to take urgent action to improve conditions.

People on the Tulse Hill property claim that structural problems with the 100-year-old buildings there are causing widespread mold and damp, making them sick and damaging the homes.

They claim their landlord, Lambeth council, failed to maintain the houses on the estate or deal adequately with repairs when they were reported to them.

A total of 168 residents have now signed a petition calling on the local authority to order an independent inspection of the buildings on the estate in the hope of finally solving the ongoing damp problems.

Manuel Goncalves, a transport worker who has lived on the Tulse Hill property for nine years, said his children had to sleep in the living room of their home because of the severe mold in the bedroom.

He said: “The second room is practically empty. I bought two dehumidifiers, but obviously I had to stop it. I can’t afford to pay the electricity for the two of them. And so I closed the room. “

Another resident, father Godfrey Asare, said: “My children fell ill because of the mould. The kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, it’s awful. You wash it off, but by the end of the week it comes back.”

Mum Aster Teklu, whose adult son had to move out of the house because the mold in his room was so bad, added: “It’s really frustrating. It is very difficult to go on and ask the same thing 10 times. Sometimes it makes you want to give up.”

According to Tulse Hill Estate Unites (THEU), a campaign group of estate residents fed up with maintenance issues, a senior council employee assured them last year that there were no significant structural issues that would require attention in the next 10 years.

But a freedom of information request revealed the property required £7.5m of investment over the next decade, according to a stock condition study by Savills.

THEU claims council staff have previously accused residents of causing damp by not opening windows and drying clothes indoors, while the group believes structural problems with the estate’s old buildings are the main cause.

Residents in the group petitioned the council in April. According to THEU, Lambeth said it would respond to them by mid-May, but members are still waiting for a response.

Just over two weeks ago, THEU staged a protest outside the council’s headquarters in Brixton, frustrated by what they described as Lambeth’s “systemic failings”.

A Lambeth council spokesman said: “We apologize to residents of the Tulse Hill estate where services have fallen below acceptable standards.

“The Tulse Hill estate is generally high quality housing but there are issues with the original construction of this property which means the houses have a lack of ventilation which presents ongoing issues.

“We held an action day at Tulse Hill with our repair team and inspectors on hand to carry out inspections and repairs to the property.

“We are committed to dealing with issues quickly and fairly and have worked extensively with residents to improve the way we respond to complaints.

“We have awarded 10 repair and maintenance contracts to new suppliers as part of our efforts to improve standards and services for council tenants.”

Pictured above: Tulse Hill Estate Unites (THEU) protesters demonstrate outside Lambeth Town Hall in Brixton on May 16 (Image: High Trees/LDRS)

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