Mouldy Hackney Council flat leaves couple with lung diseases

Chris Henriques and his partner Sarah Shepherd are both being treated for “chronic” lung conditions they say only developed after moving into Beck House in Dumont Road, Stoke Newington.

Despite Chris's doctor writing to Hackney Council to tell them to “urgently” rehouse the couple more than two months ago, nothing has happened.

Chris has been diagnosed with a rare lung disease linked by European scientists to “moisture-damaged buildings”.

Sarah’s condition is still being investigated.

“I’m constantly coughing,” said Sarah. “I have shortness of breath. I have constant mucus coming off my chest.”

“I don’t know what it takes – if I’ve got to be dead before they move me,” said Chris. “I’ve just kind of given up.”

Chris Henriques and Sarah Shepherd are both under hospital outpatient treatment for chronic lung conditions, which they say only began after they moved into a mouldy Hackney Council flat in Dumont Road, Stoke Newington (Image: Charles Thomson)

“Coughing up blood”

Chris, 49, a painter for Tottenham Hotspur, said he was placed in his studio flat in 2009.

Hackney Council confirmed it had known about the mould problem for years.

The council said it did some repairs in January 2020, then more earlier this year.

But when the Gazette visited last week, the property was still full of mould.

When the Hackney Gazette visited last week, there was still mould throughout Chris and Sarah's studio flat - despite the council saying it had recently completed works to tackle the problem (Image: Charles Thomson)

Sarah, who Chris had been dating for several years, moved in in 2020.

She grew increasingly concerned about his health.

“He had constant chest infections, even in the summer,” she said.

His breathing sometimes became so laboured she dialled 999.

“His symptoms were getting worse,” she said. “He was losing weight. He went down to nearly seven stone. In February this year, he was coughing up blood.”

He is now being treated by Homerton Hospital for “pulmonary infection with nontuberculous mycobacteria”.

Sarah said she had a choice between constantly scrubbing at the mould, despite her own lung condition, or allowing it to take over the property (Image: Sarah Shepherd)

“Noxious”

In June, Chris’s doctor wrote to Hackney Council warning the couple “need urgently to be moved”.

Dr Susan Collinson wrote that the “very damp and mould-infected bedsit” was having a "detrimental" effect on Chris's lung conditions and potential recovery.

She wrote “This is a serious infection that will require up to two years of treatment and leave him with chronic damage to his lungs and vulnerable to fungal lung infections.”

"The persistent damp and mould is noxious and pervasive and Mr Henriques’s partner has now been referred to the Royal Brompton Hospital as she has also developed a chronic lung condition,” she added.

“I get short of breath and sometimes I’m really tired,” said Chris. “It affects me more at night. I don’t get a lot of sleep.”

Sarah said that in the winter, the mould becomes even harder to contain (Image: Sarah Shephard)

“We went on holiday in July and his breathing was so good,” said Sarah. “We came back on the 23rd. By the 27th I had to call an ambulance because of his chest. He had to be admitted to A&E.”

Hackney's elected mayor Philip Glanville said: “We take issues of damp and mould extremely seriously and have been working with Mr Henriques to resolve the issues he is facing since he reported mould to us in December 2019."

Mr Glanville said there were more than 8,000 households on the council’s waiting list, almost 2,000 of which were in “urgent” need.

“We want to do everything we can to help Mr Henriques but sadly, London’s housing crisis means demand for social housing in the borough far exceeds the number available,” he said.

Chris Henriques has been diagnosed with 'pulmonary infection with nontuberculous mycobacteria', a rare lung disease linked by scientists to 'moisture-damaged buildings' - which will take two years to treat and leave him with chronic lung damage (Image: Charles Thomson)

The couple say their bids on council properties are rejected, even if they are supposedly first in the priority queue.

Mayor Glanville said: “We will be improving our bidding platform to help households have a clearer understanding of whether they may be suitable.”

He added that Hackney had recommended Chris register to swap his home with somebody wishing to downsize – but Sarah said nobody wanted to swap into a mouldy property.

Mould

The couple provided photographs of how bad the mould gets if they do not keep scrubbing it off.

It often spreads to clothes, bedding and other belongings, they said.

Sarah, a money confidence expert for a high street bank, is currently signed off work with stress.

She said scrubbing the mould was a weekly job in summer and more often in winter.

“I just feel hopeless,” she said. “People tell you to speak to MPs and councillors because they are there to help, but you go to all these people and you get nowhere.”

Chris and Sarah said the mould often spread to their belongings, forcing them to throw them away (Image: Sarah Shepherd)

Dr Collinson’s letter was copied to four Hackney Labour councillors: Clayeon McKenzie, Susan Fajana-Thomas, Mete Coban and Gilbert Smyth.

Chris and Sarah said they never heard from any of them.

None of them responded to a request for comment.

Hackney Council said tackling mould and damp was “a priority”, so it had launched a “housing repairs action plan”, allocating an extra £1 million.

It aims to inspect all damp and mould reports within five working days and prioritise them “based on the severity of the case and the age and health of the people living in the home”.