'My Nine Elms flat was flooded with raw sewage -my landlord wants £15k before she'll fix anything'
| Published date | 16 April 2024 |
| Publication title | MyLondon (England) |
Ms Smith, who works as a line manager for a domiciliary care company in Hammersmith, told MyLondon: "I went to the front door and I saw that there was water coming out. I said to myself 'what is this' When I pushed the door, I had to back up. I saw that the toilet was overflowing. I said 'Oh my days how has this happened' The toilet overflowed, the sink is flooded in the bathroom floor and everywhere and I had to back up and I said 'God!'"
She added: "It was afterwards reality hit, and even now I still can't come to terms that this has happened to me. So in my head mentally everything is affecting me. I feel like I'm going to go mad."
To complicate things, Ms Smith is locked in a legal battle with the private landlord, Lara Olarewaju-Sholu, with the pair issuing claims against each other in the courts to recoup what they each claim they are owed by the other party. Ms Smith claims previous leaks have damaged electrical appliances and possessions, and cost her money to clean up.
She is seeking between £5,000 and £15,000 from Ms Olarewaju-Sholu, however after the sewage leak she will be raising the further damage caused to possessions during proceedings. Meanwhile Ms Olarewaju-Sholu is seeking £15,690.81 she claims is owed in missed rent from Ms Smith, something the tenant disputes, though she does admit she missed some payments during Covid.
Speaking about what she lost in the sewage leak on Tuesday, April 2, Ms Smith said she found the flat completely flooded with raw sewage leaking out of the front door and completely saturating the ruined floors: "I went in there. I've lost everything -everything. From the sentimental items from the passing of my late mum to pass on to my kids, photos, this, that and the other; my bed, my furniture -everything, my kids' stuff. Everything is gone. Everything is gone. I can't take things from that property to a new property -those are [other people's] faeces from everywhere."
The sewage flood is just the latest of a plethora of issues with the flat, Ms Smith claims. She and her daughter moved into the flat in 2019 with the help of Lambeth Council.
Difficulties started off with...
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