A mum has told how she and her young son are lucky to be alive after their flat ceiling collapsed twice, and left them homeless for months.
Ayoola Ahmed was pregnant with baby Rayhan when water started leaking into her home back in April 2018, but just two weeks later the bedroom ceiling gave way and fell through, leaving debris everywhere.
Months of endless arguing and asking landlords Lambeth Council to not only fix the problem but find out what caused the ceiling to come down, led the 36-year-old to call in the government Ombudsman who eventually forced the local authority to act.
Ayoola, who is a support worker for people with special needs, was filled with dread once more when water began leaking through the bathroom ceiling of the one bed flat in Norwood, south London, in March 2022.
She told the Mirror: "I came home and I could see water pouring in and the hallway ceiling had a small opening, I thought 'What the hell is going on?' and I started to panic.
"Everyone, all of my neighbours came to help with buckets, as they left I quickly nipped into the bedroom to grab some things and as I stepped into the bedroom, it all came down.
"I just heard this crash, it was like the sound of someone throwing a huge lump of concrete at the floor, it was like an earthquake.
"I was hit on the head by something. If I had still been in the hallway I would have been killed.
"If my son was there he would have died or had brain damage."
Too scared to go back into the chaos, Ayoola crawled out of a ground floor window in her bedroom and called the fire brigade.
"I had no idea what else was coming, or if the whole thing would come down on me."
The firefighters wouldn't let anyone back in the property and were concerned for the family with four children in the flat above and insisted they turn off their water.
The entire ceiling in the flat's hallway had given way and come down, which Ayoola feared was always going to be the case as the damp, condensation and patches of brown staining that would appear on the paintwork, appeared to indicate an issue with the flat's plumbing.
She said no action had been taken by Lambeth Council to fix the issue after the first collapse, so it was almost inevitable something would happen again.
"I was always living in fear and never really settled there.
"This was an issue that was clearly going to get bigger, it wasn't just going to go away with someone patching the hole and repainting.
"I'm just trying to keep everything normal for Rayhan but it has been so stressful dealing with this every day."
After the ceiling collapsed, Ayoola claims she received no offer of help from Lambeth Council for where she and Rayhan, now 4, were expected to live intially.
The stayed with family and friends over the next six months and were eventually moved to an estate in Clapham.
But for Ayoola the issues go on, her new flat has water issues too; the flat above her own was flooded and she is forever cleaning to keep the mould, condensation and smell at bay for her and her child.
Fed up with having to constantly fight for a decent home, Ayoola added: "If an individual was accountable there would be change, but because it's just Lambeth Council if goes on.
"If you knew your job was on the line for making someone's life miserable they would make it better.
"It's been a battle every day. The council know there are children going through this.
"All I want is a peaceful home, this has put a strain on my whole family. My parents are pensioners, they should be relaxing but they are worrying about me all the time
"I just want a nice place, close to my family."
Lambeth Council has told the Mirror: "We have accepted that our service fell below its normal standards in this case and we apologise to Ms Ahmed for any frustration and inconvenience this has caused her.
“The work to resolve a series of complaints relating to the [first] property was completed to the required standard and we paid compensation in line with the Ombudsman’s recommendations.
“Lambeth found Ms Ahmed alternative accommodation as soon as this became available, and we have taken action to tackle the problems she has reported with that property. We will continue working with her to ensure her accommodation meets our standards.
“Lambeth has more than 33,000 council homes and our priority is ensuring all of these are safe and well-maintained for our tenants. We have invested hundreds of millions of pounds in improving our council homes and estates in recent years.
“We have also concentrated on making improvements to day-to-day repairs and maintenance, including assigning 10 new firms and a brand new in-house repairs team to the task since 2021.
"This is part of our wider work to proactively reduce instances of disrepair and resolve them in partnership with our residents including home health checks and a rapid response team to respond to any reports of damp and mould.
"We’re committed to continuing these improvements, and acting quickly to resolve problems when they are brought to our attention.”
