Woman forced to sleep on mat in living room as flat riddled with mould and damp
Tracy Nilsson said she felt ‘less than a human being’ during years-long battle with her housing association to carry out repairs
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Your support makes all the difference.A woman who has been sleeping in her living room for four years after a row over mould in her flat said the disrepair has made her feel like “less than a human being”.
Tracy Nilsson, 51, who has lived in her London flat for over six years, says she has been battling with the housing association to carry out the necessary repairs.
She said her belongings, including a sofa, bed and curtains were ruined by mould and damp, adding that it was particularly bad in her bedroom.
Ms Nilsson claimed that she would wake up with wet blankets, which forced her to move to the living room to sleep. She said she was sleeping on a mat on the floor for more than a year before a charity bought her a new bed.
Have you had similar experiences? Email holly.bancroft@independent.co.uk
The housing association Clarion said that they carried out repairs in a timely manner and had carried out significant work to improve the property. They dispute Ms Nilsson’s claim that she had to sleep outside of her bedroom at any point.
But it agreed to give her more than £5,000 in compensation following her claim.
There is no longer any damp in the bedroom but the walls have been stripped bare and the room is empty. Ms Nilsson, who lives at the High Barnet flat with her teenage daughter, said: “It took me many years to build my home and I’ve lost it all. I’m back to the floorboards and I’ve got to start again. When I moved into here in 2017 it used to rain through the windows. They had to replace them.”
Describing what her bedroom used to be like, Ms Nilsson explained: “I’d wake up and my blankets would be wet. It was so damp. I could never turn my heating off.”
She described her experience as being like “a hamster on a wheel going round and round with nothing being done.” She added: “All I want to do is have a comfortable, safe and peaceful home for me and my child.” She said she had hoped to find a lawyer to take her case further but said she would accept the compensation money.
A Clarion spokesperson apologised for the issues that Ms Nilsson experienced, saying that all the issues in the disrepair claim are being resolved.
“In 2021 we fitted the flat with a new kitchen. In 2023 we fitted a new bathroom suite, and in early 2024 we renewed all windows to the property with double glazed UPVC units, amongst other works.
“Between 2021 and 2024 multiple surveyors have visited the property. Minor mould, attributable to condensation, was identified on the bathroom ceiling and above a skirting board on the back wall of a bedroom. These have since been treated and we are satisfied that at no point was the bedroom unsafe to be used.”
They added that leaks in the bathroom reported in 2024 had been repaired either the same day or within three days.
Dan Tomlinson, MP for Chipping Barnet, said: "I’m happy that we could work with Clarion to improve Tracy’s living conditions and her overall wellbeing.”