A leak in Jacqueline Cuthbert’s bathroom has resulted in the floor being flooded with water

A WOMAN who said she waited so long for council repair workers to arrive at her flat she got a kidney infection, has slammed the Town Hall for treating her like “an animal”.

Jacqueline Cuthbert has been complaining about problems in her flat on St John Street – damp, mould, leaks, and damage to the walls and ceilings – for more than 40 years.

Ms Cuthbert claims that on one occasion the council missed 26 consecutive repair appointments.

She told the Tribune: “Whenever I have an appointment, I wait from 6 in the morning until 12 at night and I sit at the front door. No one turns up. On one occasion, I sat there for so long without a drink and without going to the toilet, that I got a severe kidney infection. The GP said, ‘You’re lucky, one step further and you would have been hospitalised.’”

The council claim that Ms Cuthbert has “refused access” to the flat, and that this is the cause of the delay. “They keep saying I won’t let them in, but why would I make an appointment and then not let people in? Why would I choose to live like this?” she said.

Ms Cuthbert added that the mould and damp is so bad in the bedroom that she has been forced to sleep on a wooden bench in the living room to avoid breathing in the dangerous spores, and a leak in her bathroom has resulted in the floor being entirely submerged in two inches of water.

“I found a tadpole in my bathroom, swimming around in the water,” Ms Cuthbert said.

She said she has suffered multiple accidents including breaking her leg falling down the stairs, suffering a blow to the head when the ceiling fell in on her, and getting concussion after she slipped on the bathroom floor.

The flat was a health hazard, she said and added: “…this is how a 65-year-old disabled and visually impaired woman on benefits is left to live by her landlord, a social housing landlord, a local authority landlord”.

The standard reply from the council when the Tribune asks them for comment on housing stories where tenants have been left to deal with damp, mould and severe disrepair for years is that they are “committed to ensuring that everyone in Islington has a safe, decent, and genuinely affordable place to call home”.

Ms Cuthbert labelled this “propaganda”. She said: “Where’s the safe? They say, ‘Oh, we’re taking mould so seriously.’ Well, I’ve had brown, purple, yellow, and green mould, and now I’ve got white mould.”

She added: “I dread coming home, I’m frightened to come home. Every time I go into the bathroom I have flashbacks to the accident. I can never bring a friend in so I can never have any company. I don’t think anyone would treat an animal the way they have treated me.”

Ms Cuthbert admits that she has been offered alternative accommodation by Islington Council, but says that it is not suitable.

She said: “All the other places they’ve offered me have had shared front doors, no garden, no patio, on estates in blocks of flats. I’ve been offered properties outside of the area, in the highest crime rate areas, with the lowest air quality and no transport.”

She added: “I should not have to give up a garden, a patio, and a spare bedroom that I’ve paid £18,000 in spare bedroom penalty for just because I want my repairs done.”

Councillor Una O’Halloran, Executive Member for Homes and Neighbourhoods, said: “We’re committed to providing safe, decent homes and tackling all cases of damp, mould and disrepair.

“We deeply regret the distress caused to Ms Cuthbert and want to get this sorted as soon as possible, but unfortunately our teams have been refused access on several occasions, and we have not had a response to our requests to set a new date.”

She added: “We also reached a legal agreement with Ms Cuthbert that we would facilitate a move to a new flat, but this has since been declined. Our housing team will be in touch this week to offer temporary accommodation so works can be completed as soon as possible, with a view to Ms Cuthbert moving back into her current home once complete. We will of course continue to work with Ms Cuthbert to resolve these issues.”