A fed up mum says she and her three children have been forced to sleep on a sofa bed for months due to a stomach-turning mould infestation in their property.

The mould has ruined their home, rotting her children's bedding and wardrobes and she says the issue has been ongoing for three years.

Latesha Banton says that despite telling the council about the issue, no amount of mould remover and anti-mould paint will fix the problem.

Latesha shares a sofa bed with her three sons, aged five, two and four months, her eldest child falls asleep in school because of the current situation.

She claims the situation has been like this since September, 2021.

The mould has become such a problem that it has started affecting her family's health, her other two children both developed eczema at just a few months old and Latesha believes the black mould is causing it to get worse.

Latesha told MyLondon: "It doesn't matter how much I cream their skin, I do it all day everyday but the eczema just doesn't seem to go away."

Latesha claims her already overcrowded property means her only bedroom is out of use because the mould has turned her walls black and destroyed her curtains in the process.

She says she cannot keep up with the cost of replacing items such as mattresses and pillows and has asked the council to be compensated.

The mould has not only impacted her living situation, but it has begun taking a toll on her physical and mental health.

Latesha suffers from arthritis and says sleeping on a sofa bed is not something she should be doing.

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"I shouldn't even be sleeping on the sofa bed, my bones are eroding," she said. "I suffer with arthritis which affects my hip bones so I'm going to have injections in my back, but the council don't take any of this into consideration or the effect it has on your mental health.

"They just think, 'you've got a home and you should just be happy with whatever we put you in."

Latesha says she has provided the council with pictures showing the extend of the mould and letters from her children's doctors explaining the severity of the issue, but she claims she is told that the problem is down to her choice of lifestyle.

She said: " I don't really know where to go anywhere anymore, it's draining me and I've had enough.

"They [the council] told me to open the windows, they say I cause the mould due to my lifestyle. They say I made myself overcrowded because I've had two more children since moving into this property, but my personal circumstances shouldn't come into us living in a mould infested property."

Latesha claims the council is not addressing the "root of the problem", as she believes the mould is caused by the way the block of flats were originally built. On Wednesday (March 9), Latesha said a member of the council visited the property, offering again a mould wash treatment and that they would fit a PIV system in her home – however, the mum said she is not satisfied with either of those outcomes.

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" I feel like they're doing the bare minimum and say, 'oh we will just wash it away', so they feel like they've done something about it when they haven't," she said. "I personally think it's a structural issue that's to do with the building but the council is saying it's not.

"I don't even want to take legal action. I just want my kids to live in a safe environment. Black mould is toxic. It releases bad toxins into the air and if I'm wiping it off I'm releasing it into the air for them to breathe in, so it's a no-win situation."

Latesha says she has asked to be moved into a safer, larger property that can accommodate her and her three children but was told she won't be moved into a new one until her eldest child turns 10.

A spokesperson for Wandsworth Council said: "We are aware of the problems this tenant is experiencing and are in contact with her to arrange for works to be carried out that we believe will help to resolve this issue. We are committed to taking action to help improve the situation."

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