A breastfeeding mum says she will “never forgive” her housing association after she was turfed out with her family of their temporary accommodation in Hoxton with “nowhere to go.” Fayza Bouyhia and her family, which includes husband plus their chronically asthmatic daughter and eight-month-old baby, were left waiting outside their temporary accommodation flat for hours while they battled with their housing association for an “adequate” place to stay.
“I’m left with luggage outside the [flat] like I’m homeless which is the worst feeling. We work hard to afford our kids a good life.” she told MyLondon at the time on Tuesday (May 20). “I’ve heard stories of children dying because of mould. I’m not going to risk my kids life,” she added.
The family are desperate to avoid being sent back to their Hackney home which they left around two-and-a-half months ago, due to rat infestations and mould, until it has been fully repaired. Despite this, Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing [MTVH] insisted the family were able to return to the property while the works were done “in situ”, even though there was no working electricity in two rooms, no functional oven, plus heavy damp and holes in the ceiling.
Breastfeeding mum’s milk dried up due to stress
“It’s the last thing I expected to happen in the UK, in London. If you tell someone I live in London and experienced this it sounds really weird. If you say ‘I live in London’ – they say ‘wow’. But if you say I had mice, rats and mould…” she tails off shaking her head.
The mum-of-two, who is still on maternity leave and breastfeeding her baby boy, has spent hours on the phone battling with the housing association over finding suitable accommodation during the last two-and-a-half months. Living with the stress of not knowing where they will all be living tomorrow has taken its toll on both her mind and body.
“I had 10 days with no milk because of what happened in the flat because I was scared. You can’t imagine it was so tiring, so stressful, you feel sorry for the baby as well,” she said.
The family spent hours waiting outside where they’ve been living in Hoxton with their belongings on Tuesday while they battled with MTVH over where they could go next – after being told to leave their temporary accommodation. MyLondon returned with dad, Hamid Ouchaou, to the family’s original home in Hackney and saw that the flat still had no working electricity in two rooms, no functional oven and heavy damp and holes on the ceiling.
The family ultimately refused to return to the property, despite MyLondon witnessing them being shouted at on the phone by a staff member at MTVH, until repairs were fully completed – fearing their asthmatic daughter could return to hospital due to the conditions.
“I feel like I’m throwing myself and the kids in the hospital again. I can’t imagine my daughter suffering, she can’t breathe. She lacks oxygen, that is serious.
“I’m not going to do that even if I don’t know where I’ll end up. I’ll try not to leave from here but I don’t want to go back there with my kids – it’s not a joke. I’m not going to risk my children’s life,” said Fayza, from outside the family’s temporary accommodation.
While the family were then offered hotel options, they felt they were not reassured that these were “adequate” for the needs of their young daughter and baby. MTVH has now moved the family to a temporary flat under the promise the work will be completed by in the near future, following pressure from MyLondon.
Rats nests, mould and leaks
Fayza, Hamid and their two children have spent the last two-and-a-half months living in temporary accommodation after their family home in Hackney was deemed “unsafe” following the discovery of rats nests, leaking water, mould and power outages.
The couple has different approaches to dealing with the situation. Hamid keeps ‘calm and carries on’, but despite mostly maintaining a smile on his face he admits this is just his way of coping. “I’m outside with my wife and the baby and we’re suffering – what are we going to do now?” he said at the time.
The family left their home on March 5 after water began leaking from the flat above through their light outlets around a week before. “We started complaining but they didn’t care. Then when the electric shock happened (March 2) we lost electricity in the kitchen and I lost my oven as well. Then the water started all in my cupboards, all my food, everything,” said Fayza.
The next day a workman discovered the cause of the electrical outage – two large rats nests in the ceiling. It was suggested that the vermin may have chewed through the electrical cables, which had become wet due to the leaking water, ultimately causing the power to cut.
“The smell was terrible, with my daughter asthmatic, my son was four months old. The smell started getting bad. I saw him putting the dead rats into the bag,” she added.
The family was left without electricity in the bedroom belonging to their five-year-old daughter, Lara, as well as in their kitchen. They were also left without a working oven.
The family say they were finally told to move out of the property after the London Fire Brigade attended a fire alarm at the house and informed the housing association the property was unsafe. Fayza and her family were then moved to a hotel for 19 days with no fridge, while the family were observing Ramadan.
The parents say this was one of the hardest periods they experienced, as Fayza was unable to save milk for their then five-month-old baby or prepare food for the family to break fast in the evenings. Leaving their family home so close to being post-partum was traumatic for the whole family.
“I was excited before he was born and I had a small party. We were so happy there. I got him a new cot and he used it for a few months but I had to leave it there. I bought the baby his cot new and bought him his own stuff but they had to stay there but I saw they’re getting mouldy. I was grabbing them and trying to save what I can but now everything in my house is smelling,” she said.
They were then moved to an apartment, with cooking facilities and two bedrooms, which suited the family well. But their booking was cancelled with little notice on the expectation that they would move back to their apartment – without the works being fully completed.
You can read more about the family’s ordeal as it happened here.
‘We have made every effort to ensure this has been as smooth a process as it can be’
A spokesperson for Metropolitan Thames Housing said: “We understand how stressful this situation has been for our residents, especially as it is a family with young children. In this case, our focus has always been ensuring the family is safe and supported by providing suitable temporary accommodation while essential repairs are carried out at their home.
“We have made every effort to ensure this has been as smooth a process as it can be. We booked the family’s temporary serviced apartment through a third-party provider. When we were informed the repairs would take longer than initially expected, we sought to extend their stay. Unfortunately, the apartment was no longer available due to a new booking. We offered an alternative apartment, but the family declined it and remained in the original property, where they still had access and keys. At no point were they without access to accommodation or required to wait outside.
“When the family was staying at a hotel, we provided them with additional support including takeaway meals. The family requested to be provided with a fridge at their hotel and we recognise the importance of this, particularly for breastfeeding mothers. We remained in contact with the family and advised that they arrange fridge access with the hotel team. As a result, the hotel did accommodate the family’s request for this by providing access to the kitchen fridge.
“The resident has now accepted alternative temporary accommodation, and we are completing the works on their home as a priority. It’s clear the family feel let down, which is not the experience we want any of our residents to have. We are committed to ensuring all our residents feel supported and are treated with compassion and dignity, and we will continue working to uphold this standard.”
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