A mother who claims she was forced to sofa-surf with her young daughter for more than ten years because of their “uninhabitable” flat is seeking £100,000 in damages from a London council.
Amran Mohammed’s local authority flat was blighted by leaks, mice, dangerous electrics and no heating, with the state of the property having a “marked effect” on her health, court documents show.
Despite the alleged problems, the 36-year-old claims the council only offered her emergency accommodation once. The hotel room was booked under the name Mr Mohammed and she wasn’t allowed in, it is claimed.
She has been battling Ealing council for years and has now lodged a disrepair claim at Brentford Crown Court. She says she stopped permanently living at the property from 2008 but is claiming damages from 2016, the year when the ceiling of the flat’s kitchen fell in.
Ms Mohammed is seeking damages for the cost of renting the property, loss of occupation, television and broadband bills, council tax and utility bills. Ealing council are chasing £3,000 in rent arrears on the property.
According to documents filed in court, initial problems with the property included “severe water damage” that was seeping into the flat below and live electrics.
Concerns were raised with the boiler in 2008, and water started leaking from the kitchen ceiling in 2012, according to documents.
A chartered surveyor’s report from 2016 said the property was “not habitable” and that there was a “severe risk of injury or death by electrocution”. Ms Mohammed and her daughter, who was ten at the time, were not offered alternative accommodation, she told The Independent.
Documents show that the ceiling of the flat also fell in in 2016, due to the water that was seeping into the flat.
Ealing council carried out repairs on the electrics, the water tank and the damaged ceiling and also replaced the plumbing unit.
But further issues were found by a surveyor in 2019, documents show. In a follow-up report, the surveyor wrote that there was a “catalogue of disrepair” and that a “large number of remedial works are required” to be done by Ealing council to be “deemed acceptable for habitation”.
According to the surveyor, repairs were needed to the electrics, fire, heat, smoke and carbon monoxide alarm systems, as well as the central heating, the plumbing, the front entrance door and the carpet. Ms Mohammed says she and her daughter were forced to sofa-surf with friends and were also struggling with their health, in part due to the stress of their inadequate housing.
A spokesperson for Ealing council said that they visited the property to investigate a further leak to a plumbing joint in 2019 and it was successfully repaired.
That same year, Ms Mohammed’s doctor, Dr Stuart Wolfman, wrote a medical report which highlighted the toll of the mother’s health.
The report, which has been submitted to the court, said: “I feel strongly that Ealing council should deal with the housing problems as it is their responsibility and is having a marked deleterious effect on health both physically and mentally on Amran and her daughter.”
The doctor’s report also raised concerns about contaminated water that was coming into the flat, which he thought could be contributing to Ms Mohammed’s bladder problems. Pictures taken by Ms Mohammed show streaks of brown sediment in her bath water. The doctor also said that the poor housing was exacerbating her daughter’s atopic eczema.
Meanwhile, in a witness statement submitted to court, Ms Mohammed’s friend Saed Jama said he was “shocked to discover the state of her living situation”. “The kitchen ceiling was leaking from the tank upstairs. It was also freezing in the house with no hot water or heating, she was unable to prepare hot food,” Mr Jama wrote.
“I could not believe that her daughter’s room had leaking radiators and pipes as a result the room was freezing cold and even caused damage to her duvets and bedding as well as her actual bed.” He said that, due to the disrepair, he had Ms Mohammed and her daughter to stay during the summer of 2015.
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Ealing council said they then attended the flat in September 2020 to sort a blockage in the sink and toilet and to deal with a heat and hot water failure. However a further inspection in April 2021 found there were still outstanding issues.
A surveyor wrote in the 2021 report: “Following the leakage problem, which adversely affected the kitchen, reinstatement work by the landlord remains incomplete…In addition to disrepair it would appear that vermin (mice) infestation has been a problem.”
It added that the smoke alarm in the entrance hall was hanging from the ceiling.
The council argue that the flat is habitable and that further repairs were made in 2022. A spokesperson said: “There was no reason to decant the household for any of the above as all works were able to be completed with the residents at home.”
The council claim that Ms Mohammed was an anti-social tenant who played loud music in her flat, and let other people stay in the property.
Ms Mohammed said any other people reported at the property were family members who were supporting her when she was unwell.
Documents from both sides have been submitted to court but a date is yet to be set for trial.
