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Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 18 January 2008

Tenants Pat Briggs and Maria Gezi, with baby Abigail

Damp homes are making us ill, tenants warn

TENANTS claim they are being made ill by dampness at a block of council flats at Angel.
Pensioner Pat Briggs and single mother Maria Gezi have called on Homes for Islington to remedy the problem at the flats in Theseus Walk, off City Road, or find them new homes.
Tenants bought a hand-held industrial monitor which gives off a beep every time it senses dampness to prove to the council that the problem has not gone away.
Mrs Briggs, a retired dressmaker, said: “I started getting dampness in my flat three years ago but now it is really bad.
“They’ve taken floorboards up and washed and dried all my walls, but the problem keeps coming back.”
She invited council officials into her flat recently so they could see the problem. “I used the monitor on the walls and it showed there was an awful lot of dampness,” she said.
“It’s not condensation. We’ve ruled that out. But it is coming from somewhere. People shouldn’t have to live in these conditions.”
Next door, Ms Gezi said she and her nine-month-old daughter, Abigail, were both being made ill by dampness.
“We’re always coughing and I’m fed up with it,” she added. “We’ve got damp across all our walls in the living room and the bedroom. My doctor says it is not healthy to live in these conditions.”
A Homes for Islington spokesman said: “We have had a report of a problem with a leak at Mrs Briggs’ address. A surveyor has been to the property to check for any problems and will recommend work to be carried out to deal with the problem.
“As regards moving, Mrs Briggs is eligible for a transfer and can apply for other properties.”

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