A woman who is terminally ill with cancer says she fears the condition of her home could kill her.
Jackie Carr claims she has been living in a mouldy flat with broken windows and no fire alarms for seven years.
She said the issue with damp has become "unbearable".
Jackie has lived at her property for 10 years and claims she has been complaining to Hackney council since 2015 about her housing issues.
She told MyLondon she feels completely neglected and is terrified the issues with her home would kill her.
She said: “I’ve been begging the council for help but it’s gone completely unnoticed. They keep promising repairs but nothing has ever happened.
"Our windows are all completely broken, one of them have smashed and none of them can be opened. It’s led to damp and mould because the windows are streaming and nobody seems to care.”
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In 2013 Jackie was diagnosed with breast cancer and was told that she should try to avoid stress.
Last year she was given the all clear but this year she received the news that the cancer had returned to her lungs, diagnosing her with terminal stage 4 lung cancer.
"My mental health is spiralling out of control and my son had a break down last year because of what we’ve been going through."
Jackie says she feels ignored by the council.
She added that her aggressive chemotherapy treatments means she has struggled to muster up the strength to fight the council on something she said should have been sorted out years ago.
Further stress came for her and her son after a fire nearly broke out in the property in 2018 and they were awoken by the smell of smoke instead of a fire alarm.
“In 2018 I had a stroke which left me with disabilities," she said. "It left me with balance and coordination problems and memory loss. I put a pizza in the oven and I went to bed and left it.
"It was about 12.30pm and my dog was barking waking up me and my son. We both opened our bedroom doors and were hit by smoke.
"We tried to open the windows but we couldn’t open the windows because they were jammed and the issue hadn’t been fixed and so we had to keep the front door open until 2.30am until it was aired out.”
Jackie said that Hackney council apologised that no smoke alarms were ever fitted in the property and advisor her to call the fire department.
The issue reportedly has still not been rectified four years later, after Jackie said the fire brigade concluded the emergency exits failed the risk assessment.
Hackney council say they will replace her windows as a "matter of urgency" and will move Jackie to a hotel temporarily while the work is being done.
Jackie told MyLondon she is currently staying with her daughter.
“They say the work is suppose to go ahead but there’s been no effort to move me while it goes ahead," she told MyLondon. "I’ve not had a start date confirmed so I’m not hopeful it will happened. It’s become unbearable especially living with damp and mould when I’ve got lung cancer.
"I’m staying at my daughter's house a lot because of the damp because I’m worried about what it’s doing to my already deteriorating health.”
Steve Waddington, Strategic Director, Housing, Hackney Council, said: “We have been working with Ms Carr for a number of years and have over that time carried out a significant number of repairs. We are sorry that there has been a delay in responding to Ms Carr’s latest repair request.
"We are aware of Ms Carr’s health conditions and we are working with her to try and resolve any outstanding repair issues as quickly as possible. We spoke to Ms Carr last week and confirmed that we will replace her windows as a matter of urgency and, given her health conditions, provide hotel accommodation while the work is completed.”
