A South Norwood dad lives in a flat with such bad damp his disabled daughter’s doctor has said the family should be moved for the sake of her health.

Kingsley has lived in one of the infamous Regina Road tower blocks for eight years and shares a two-bedroom flat with his wife and three daughters aged eight, six and four.

His youngest daughter has Poland Syndrome, which causes a lack of muscle development in the chest and has affected her immune system.

Her GP has written to Croydon Council with concerns about the health of the “vulnerable child”.

Your Local Guardian: Kingsley said this mould has come just 2 weeks after it was cleaned and re wallpapered (photo: Tara O'Connor)Kingsley said this mould has come just 2 weeks after it was cleaned and re wallpapered (photo: Tara O'Connor)

Dad Kingsley, 44, said he regularly re-wallpapers his home and cleans it to keep the mould at bay. 

To make matters worse there is what he believes to be toilet water leaking from a rusty pipe in his kitchen.

Mould can be found in the bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen cabinets which Kingsley said comes back every two weeks after he cleans it.

But the worst problem is the mould in the girls’ bedroom which has caused the four-year-old to have regular throat and chest infections.

And as she is often up all night coughing, she ends up missing school and her sisters are tired from being kept up at night.

Your Local Guardian: A leaking pipe in the kitchen on Kingsley's home (photo: Tara O'Connor)A leaking pipe in the kitchen on Kingsley's home (photo: Tara O'Connor)

Kingsley said: “When I made the complaint I was told it was to do with lifestyle. I was so upset, they are trying to imply I am dirty. 

"I clean so much but the mould comes back. I feel embarrassed for any friends and family to come and visit.

“When the repairman came to look at the leaking pipe, he told me this can never be repaired he said this is dangerous and he wouldn’t even touch it.

“I am so scared for my daughters, it is overcrowded.

"But my youngest daughter is the issue, her GP has sent three or four letters to them but they told me to get a specialist letter, they said they can’t rehouse me based on a GP letter. ”

Kingsley, who is a pastor, said after letters from his daughter’s GP and teacher had no impact, he was told a specialist letter was needed.

He spent £250 getting this but has still not been offered a new place by the council.

The GP letter, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, read: “I am concerned about the health of the vulnerable child with several disabilities as she is prone to getting recurrent infections.

“I understand she is living in accommodation with mould… this appears to be making her cough frequently as her immune system is poor and as a result is affecting other children in the household.

"It would be in the child’s best health interest to find alternative accommodation which does not present this kind of health hazard.”

The father of three is out of work following a recent diagnosis which has caused weakness in one side of his body, and his wife is a student mental health nurse.

Kingsley said the council started carrying out repairs in the block after appalling conditions were exposed in one of the other blocks in the road in March 2021 with some facing persistent leaks and thick mould.

An independent investigation published two months later exposed serious failings in Croydon Council’s housing department which put tenants at risk.

Croydon Council was contacted for comment.