Woman constantly dizzy thought she had vertigo but turned out to be gas leaking from boiler

-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Debbie Williams was feeling dizzy all the time. It worried her, but as her dad suffers from vertigo, a condition that makes you feel like everything is spinning, she thought that probably explained it. Doctors agreed and prescribed her medication to manage it.

Around the same time, the Romford -based mum was having issues with her boiler. It was ancient and constantly breaking down. However, getting it fixed was far from straightforward for Debbie as she lived in private sector landlord (PSL) council house - a home rented by the local authority on behalf of its tenants as ‘temporary accommodation'. The complicated nature of the relationship meant the buck was often passed between the two parties over the responsibility for repairs.

Fortunately, on that occasion, Debbie was able to get British Gas to come out to look at the problem herself. Her persistence might well have saved her life. When the utility provider visited her home they found the boiler had a gas leak.

READ MORE: Council moved London mum into home so dangerous daughter, 4, 'fell through giant hole in kitchen floor'

Debbie Williams poses in her flat in east London, Britain 25 March 2022. Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon -Credit:Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon
Debbie Williams poses in her flat in east London, Britain 25 March 2022. Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon -Credit:Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon

Her home had been slowly filling with carbon monoxide; a poisonous gas with no taste or smell. Breathing in the substance can result in brain damage, heart disease and, in the worst cases, death. Leaks from boilers, like Debbie’s, are the most common way people are killed and there are around 60 deaths a year .

Debbie claims it was only when British Gas capped her boiler and explained the issue, that she realised it was not vertigo she’d been suffering from, but carbon monoxide poisoning. “So you’re telling me that when I took myself to a clinic that had nothing to do with vertigo and I’ve been taking vertigo tablets for nothing?” she told the engineer. “Yeah, you’re lucky you’re still here,” he apparently replied.

Unlike other tenants who live in this form of temporary accommodation provided by Havering Council, Debbie was dealing with the landlord directly when it came to repairs. Not that it made it any easier. Debbie claims the homeowner displayed the same unwillingness to spend money on essential work as MyLondon has reported on previously.

‘Without hot water for 3 months’

A clear and recurring way this is demonstrated is in the approach to boilers. MyLondon has visited numerous homes in the borough and heard of issues with the boiler in almost all of them. The council is reluctant to invest a considerable amount in a property it has only a short-term stake in. But landlords are equally unwilling to bear the cost of replacing very old units. This means they are often used until they break completely, like in Debbie’s case.

In another PSL home in the borough, MyLondon saw a boiler that was 70 years old and had been repeatedly having issues. At one stage, the hot water was cut off to the family who lived there for a month. The reason for them moving to that property? Boiler failure and flooding at the previous home.

Debbie claims even after her boiler nearly killed her she faced a battle to have her landlord replace it. “He refused point-blank to put a new boiler in unless I got him some sort of discount,” she alleged to MyLondon. Debbie also claims that “[when he found out about the] carbon monoxide poisoning he said the British Gas acted too hasty to cut it off. He then left me for months without a boiler.”

Debbie claims she found herself stuck between the landlord and the council as she tried in vain to get a working unit: "[The council would tell me] that's not our problem you have to go to your landlord. So I’m trying to explain to Havering Council, 'you are my landlord, you rent it from him, I rent it from you'.”

MyLondon understands the breakdown was in August, but Debbie claims she was left without a boiler until November, fortunately, the shower was electric so the family was able to wash. But as the nights grew longer and the weather colder the impact of not being able to heat the home worsened.

“We went without heating and hot water for three months. Now, logically thinking about it, I genuinely don't know how I managed it,” she claims. ”It was freezing. We were doubling up with quilts. pyjamas, dressing gowns, everything you could possibly think of just to try and keep warm. We were all huddled in the same bed together.”

The boiler has now been replaced, but issues relating to the cold have not gone away. There is a hole in the roof which leads to water pouring down the walls when the weather is bad. Her windows let in cold air and mould has spread across many rooms in the house.

When MyLondon visited the property we could feel the damp air, which Debbie said was making the family unwell. “We're always ill,” Debbie claims. “The rooms are constantly damp so we're constantly getting into damp bedding. I’m having to warm up the children’s clothes before putting them on, I have to warm up my clothes before putting them on.”

The Havering mum suffers from asthma and told us she has noticed that since living in the property has had to use her inhalers far more regularly. She becomes out of breath when walking to the shops, something that never happened before.

Debbie claims mould spreads to the furniture and she finds herself having to replace items. That, in addition to the cost of heating the place, has placed a heavy financial burden on an already precarious financial situation.

‘Landlord threats to the council’

Debbie Williams poses in her flat in east London, Britain 25 March 2022. Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon -Credit:Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon
Debbie Williams poses in her flat in east London, Britain 25 March 2022. Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon -Credit:Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon

When Debbie raises issues with her landlord he either gaslights her-saying that the problems didn’t exist-or that he was able to could fix them. For example, when she sent him a video of water pouring down her walls, the result of a leaking roof during the storm, he claimed it was condensation caused by her having the radiators on.

She claims that when council workers have assessed essential repairs and quoted the cost to the landlord, he has threatened to remove the property from the council’s temporary accommodation. “[The landlord] came around and complained about the amount that they wanted to charge for a roof that he believes there is naff all wrong with,” she explained.

Debbie has found herself in a bizarre situation where the council panders to a landlord it knows is overseeing a property that is potentially breaking the law and which the local authority has the enforcement powers to improve immediately. “We don't want to leave you homeless,” a council official allegedly told Debbie “so can [we] just ease him in and give him the repairs bit by bit.”

Rather than hiring professionals to do the work or get the council’s contractors in, Debbie claims the landlord does it himself. She also believes h is solution, to most problems, is to get his mastic gun out and put sealant on whatever the issue is. Debbie has alleged t he leaking roof, holes in the walls and gaps by the windows have all been ‘fixed’ with his mastic gun.

Debbie Williams poses in her flat in east London, Britain 25 March 2022. Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon
Debbie Williams poses in her flat in east London, Britain 25 March 2022. Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon

A prime example was the job he did on what were previously the French patio doors at the back of the house. The landlord replaced the double doors with a single ill-fitting one. “He's put a door that he found on eBay that doesn't fit in the gap,” she said, “[When] he cut off the French patio doors he didn't do a very good job because it’s sloping. Recently he came round and put PVC plastic with some mastic to cover the hole instead of actually dealing with it properly. The man loves his mastic.”

Knowing the landlord ultimately holds the power, Debbie feels scared to challenge him. “[When repairs need doing] he just comes around himself and it's intimidation because I'm then here by myself and I can't say what I feel I want to say. It's in his hands whether I've got a roof over my head or not.”

She pointed out that, while the landlord didn’t have the direct power to evict her, he could take the home back from the council at any point which would have the same result. This situation might be easier to bear, Debbie added, if it was indeed temporary accommodation she was living in.

But it’s far from that, she has been in the property for eight years. The whole time there has been the threat of having to return to the hostel where she initially fled after the breakdown of her marriage. She added: “I thought this is going to be temporary and then eight years later, I'm like sitting here and it’s still ‘going to be temporary.’ I just gave up in the end.”

Havering Council’s response

Responding to the issues raised in this article a spokesperson for Havering Council said: “We have been working with the landlord and Ms Williams to make sure essential repairs are carried out on this temporary accommodation. Ms Williams has been able to bid for a permanent council property for several years and is high up on the list for bidding. She has every chance of being successful in moving to a council home.”

Debbie said she had been bidding on properties every week for years, but had not been successful in bidding on a suitable home yet.

Are you being intimidated to live in unsafe conditions by your landlord? Contact zak.garnerpurkis@reachplc.com with your stories

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