I have been living with exposed asbestos in my flat for nearly four years and my housing association, Notting Hill Genesis (NHG), has repeatedly ignored my calls to have it removed. The problem came to light in 2017 when a carpenter, who was repairing a board covering a disused fireplace in my bedroom, discovered it contained asbestos. Four other areas of asbestos were then found in the living areas. Masking tape was used to seal them, but nothing has been done since.
I am a 73-year-old African with various health conditions and have also had to endure a rotten kitchen floor and a holed, cracked wall which have become an entry route for vermin and bed bugs. In 2020, after two years without action, I was told surveyors were only attending urgent cases. Months later, four appointments were cancelled by NHG. I asked to pay for an independent surveyor to inspect my flat and reclaim the cost from NHG, but was refused.
I am being treated for post traumatic stress disorder which I attribute to the appalling conditions.
SA, London
Photos of the flat where you’ve lived for 30 years make shocking viewing. They show mildewed woodwork, decaying wall plaster, gaping holes between fixtures and a collection of bed bugs. Plus thin strips of tape covering the walls where asbestos has been exposed.
NHG says you were unable to make several appointments it suggested before the pandemic put a hold on repair work, a claim you deny, but it admits it should not have let it drag on so long. “The sticky tape was a short-term measure to identify where the asbestos was. As long as the area was not disturbed it was deemed low-risk,” it says. “The job should have been picked up when restrictions were lifted, but unfortunately this was not the case. We’re sorry the resident was left in this situation for such a long period and we’ve assessed our processes to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Four days after I raised your plight, NHG managed to dispatch a surveyor who recommended extensive renovations. The asbestos was removed soon afterwards, and a new kitchen was installed in December. You were paid £1,800 for the disruption during the works, but your problems were not over.
You claim that a substandard installation left you with holes in the kitchen wall. NHG initially contested this, but has now finally acknowledged it was wrong. You also say you are still blighted by bed bugs: NHG says its pest-control team was unable to find evidence of these when they visited. It promised to return for another inspection.
In January NHG, which manages more than 66,500 homes, announced a procurement plan worth nearly £2bn to invest, among other things, in upgrading kitchens. I hope other tenants can get their homes overhauled without the long hard battle you’ve endured.
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