A mum said she's been forced to live with the stench of sewage and mould after her housing association failed to conduct "correct" repairs following a leak.
Dawn Page, 52, said that she was placed in a hotel for 10 months in 2021 along with her daughter Jaycie, 12, who was diagnosed with autism.
But since returning home, Dawn said that she still has the stench of "sewage residue" in the flat, which is run by Clarion Housing Association.
Now, Dawn said she's forced to live with severe mould, which she claimed she "can taste", and that parts of her home were "full of sewage".
As well as dealing with the disrepair, Dawn said her mental and physical health deteriorated, and she now lives with suicidal thoughts.
On top of it all, Dawn said that the 10-month stay in a hotel had a lasting impact on her daughter's education, as she was forced to begin secondary school while living in a hotel.
Have you been left in a home from hell? Email melissa.sigodo@reachplc.com
Dawn said: "I can taste it. I know the taste and smell of mould.
"I've got [the lung condition] COPD, so I've been on four rescue packs since I've been back into the property, and have only been back to the property a few months.
"[Rescue packs] are steroids and antibiotics. I've had four packets of them already since I've been back home in the last few months.
"The walls are still damp. It's winter now; this mould and damp is going to get so bad in there. Winter is when mould and damp grows the most.
"I know about over-ventilating and under-ventilating my property. My dad was a builder."
As well as dealing with mould, Dawn said she's fighting to have the sewage residue removed from her flat.
She said: "The wood that they've left is still full of sewage, because they never ever done a deep clean.
"I've been in the flat 23 years. My flat is a decent flat, I keep it as clean as I can. I maintain it as much as I can myself.
"The mould is in the kitchen. I've redecorated the hallway just to make my brain feel like the sewage smell isn't there. Just to try and feel comfortable in the house.
"It's just so neglectful. I don't know how much more I can take if they don't do what they need to do for us."
Dawn said she was placed in a hotel while Clarion's contractors completed works.
However, she said she found drugs in the room and couldn't let her daughter sleep there, so she was forced to sleep on a friend's sofa.
Dawn said: "The first hotel they gave me had a junky sitting on the stairs jacking up, and they thought I was going to take my daughter to that.
"I got into the room and there was blood and there was crack. You wouldn't think to put an animal in there.
"I didn't stay that night. I went and stayed on my friend's sofa, and then the next day they gave me a hotel in Croydon, and then I was there for six months."
Dawn said her long stay at the hotel took a toll on her daughter's health and began to hinder her learning.
She said: "You're eating the same thing every day, to the point where I was eating cereals for dinner to have something different.
"You can't make a child eat the same thing every day. [My daughter] was having pizzas; it's not good for her health.
"Even now she's at home, she goes straight to her bedroom and stays there.
"She hardly ever comes into the front room. It's really affected her now as well.
"Occasionally she'll come back out the front. As soon as she comes out, she goes back in. My child shouldn't have to live like this. She just wants a home that's decent."
A spokesperson for Clarion said: "We take cases of mould very seriously, have published our action plan and are committed to resolving any outstanding issues.
"We have provided extensive support to Ms Page over a period of months. The work completed in her home was in accordance with a schedule agreed with her solicitors, and signed-off by an independent surveyor.
"Ms Page has not reported mould in her home directly to us and mould was not present when we were last in her property, conducting a check on the 3 rd of November.
"We’re arranging for the kitchen floor to be renewed and for a further joint inspection to be carried out shortly.”
Have you been left in a home from hell? Email melissa.sigodo@reachplc.com
