Family in apartment with ceiling collapsing, nearly falling on children

A mother lashed out at her local council after the ceiling of her apartment almost collapsed on her children.

Anna Jhagroo says her children were seconds away from being seriously injured after pieces of the ceiling began raining down on them while sitting on the sofa in September.

The mother, from Tottenham, north London, said both her landlord and Haringey Council had done nothing, and three weeks later more collapsed.

Now Ms Jhagroo believes it’s only a matter of time before she or her children are hurt.

She said: “I don’t have a chance, I feel trapped and powerless. No matter how I say things or complain, no one will listen.”

It then took another two months for the repairs to be made, and the mother claims the family couldn’t bathe or cook, living essentially on a construction site.

During that time, she claims a window fitting fell on one of her child’s beds and a gas leak occurred.

“I don’t know how I dealt with it, it was very traumatic,” Ms Jhagroo said.

“I have to stay afloat. I deal with so much, if I have to describe it, it makes me emotional.

“It’s like I have to levitate everyone with me because if I’m weak my kids will be upset, I have to be the person who’s strong for them.”

The landlord, Randy Plowright, tried to shirk responsibility by saying it was Haringey Council’s responsibility to fix the flat – despite working there.

He is also listed as a top point of contact for landlords interested in renting their properties to the community.

Ms Jhagroo believes the problems with the home were covered up before the family moved in, as the walls grew moldy almost immediately and the ceiling only appeared to have been ‘patched’ before collapsing.

Although these grievances were immediately documented, both Plowright and the Council kept switching responsibilities.

The mother said: “Plowright blamed Haringey and they would say he needed to be involved in things like this. But he had none of it.’

Haringey Councilor Dana Carlin, Cabinet Member for Housing Services, Private Tenants and Planning, said: “I am very sorry for the stress and inconvenience this has caused the resident and her family. Nobody should have to experience bad living conditions – that’s why we have such high expectations.

“Once we were made aware of these issues we inspected the property as soon as possible. Although some of these issues have been fixed, there were several instances where our repair team did not have access.

“Another emergency issue was raised today to once again highlight and address these issues as we take the safety and wellbeing of our tenants very seriously.”

Metro.co.uk has reached out to Randy Plowright for comment.

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