Couple endure punishing two-year legal battle over damp, mouldy home

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Louise Thomas

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A couple faces an ongoing legal battle to get compensation from their council over mould and disrepair in their home, which they say is making them sick.

Joyce Iyinolakan and her partner Tunde were moved from one mould-ridden home in London, only to be placed in another property with mould as they rack up thousands in legal fees. The damp is exacerbating their daughter’s asthma and giving the couple stress and skin problems, they say.

And on top of this, they claim the council added them to a register of potentially violent customers - which Mr Iyinolakan said made him feel like a “common criminal”.

Mould in the home is known to pose health risks to the airways and lungs, as well as the eyes and skin. The tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in 2020 after exposure to mould led to tighter guidance for landlords over preventing fungal infestations in properties.

Mr and Mrs Iyinolakan took Southwark Council to court in October 2022 over the ongoing disrepair in their home, for wrongly being put on the potentially violent customers register, and for breaches of their human rights.

The council admitted in court that they had failed to fix the mouldy home and offered over £6,000 in compensation.

But the couple have already paid over £10,000 in legal bills to fight their case and face paying even more.

Before the couple went to court, the Housing Ombudsman found Southwark Council guilty of maladministration in May 2022 over their failure to deal with mould in the couple’s home and for wrongly putting them on a register for potentially aggressive customers.

Two years on the couple, who run a catering business, are still facing a battle.

Ms Iyinolakan, who suffers from anxiety and PTSD, had a panic attack in their court hearing in September this year, leaving the couple unable to represent themselves. Despite this, the judge went ahead with the hearing in their absence and ruled that the council did not have to pay compensation for the human rights claim nor for the impact of wrongly putting the pair on the violent customers register.

The judge ordered that the issue of compensation for disrepair be dealt with at a future hearing. Ms Iyinolakan spoke about the impact the case has had on her family, saying: “We feel like we are being vilified and punished for trying to hold Southwark council to account.”

When The Independent visited their home last week, black mould was growing on the wall of their daughter’s room and water was seeping from the ceiling down towards the headboard of her bed. The air was thick with damp and the hallway ceiling was also cracking due to leaks.

Gesturing to her a dark rash on her neck, Ms Iyinolakan said: “We are still living in disrepair. I’ve now got a fungal infection on my neck.”

Her husband Tunde added: “I’ve got it on my back as well. They’ve just done nothing. It is a constant battle against our family.”

He continued: “There is overwhelming evidence of injuries. My wife has been diagnosed with PTSD throughout this and she also suffers from anxiety, depression and asthma. I have skin irritations all over me. And yet the court is allowing the local government to get away with all of this.”

Mr Iyinolakan feels like he has not received justice through the legal process, and that he and his wife will not end up seeing a penny from the council in costs. He said: “No justice, no costs, no good home, nothing. Just sit it out and die in your little corner. That is basically what the government and the courts are trying to do to us.”

Ms Iyinolakan and her husband had already taken Southwark council to court over their previous home, which they lived in until 2019, and which also had mould problems.

The magistrates court ordered the council to relocate the family within six weeks and to put them in a home that was habitable. However, they have faced similar problems with disrepair in their new property.

Ms Iyinolakan explained that the couple recently discovered more black mould behind the bunk bed of their youngest child. Speaking about the disrepair, she added that there is a pipe leak in her living room, “so it is very damp there. The surveyor said they would have to bring up the floorboards to fix the leak.”

Mr Iyinolakan said: “We didn’t just end up in the property we are in now. We came from a house with severe disrepair and a promise that our new home was going to be suitable, in the light of the fact that Joyce has asthma and our youngest child has asthma as well.”

Ms Iyinolakan also discovered that the council had been charging her service charges for an estate that her home was not part of. She had not been receiving the service and as a result the council admitted their error and refunded £2,000 in fees.

Councillor Sarah King, cabinet member for council homes, said: “I am very sorry for the previous mistakes we made with Mr and Mrs Iyinolakan’s housing issues – we very much want this resolved and continue to be open to working collaboratively with them to do so. We strive to ensure everyone in Southwark has a safe and decent home and we are committed to tackling complaints about disrepair and mould. Mr and Mrs Iyinolakan’s case is currently before the courts for a decision so we cannot comment further”.

Housing secretary Angela Rayner has pledged to press ahead with Tory legislation, known as Awaab’s law, which sets timescales for social landlords to remedy disrepair problems. The law will also be extended to cover the private rented sector.