A housing company has apologised to an elderly disabled woman after showing her around a flat described as “the most disgusting thing I have ever seen”.
Sev Salahi said she was ill for two days after viewing the gruesome council flat in Jackson Road, Holloway.
Excrement was smeared across the bathroom, the kitchen had mould on the floor and one of the ceilings had caved in.
Even worse, Partners Islington – which has a long-term contract to look after Georgian and Victorian properties owned by Islington Council – showed three more would-be tenants around the flat on the same day.
Sev, 63, is looking to move out of her ninth floor Marquess Estate flat due to mobility issues. She needs ground floor accommodation, but said of the flat viewing last Wednesday: “It was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my entire life.
“The bathroom was the worst. You could see finger marks on the toilet where poo had been smeared. That picture will never leave my head.
“My sense of smell is absolutely awful. I can barely smell anything. But even I could smell how bad it was. The lady who showed me round couldn’t even stay in there – she had to go outside.”
She added: “At the end, I was given a piece of paper where it asks whether you decline or accept the flat. In the comments section I put: ‘I wouldn’t even put my dog in there.’ I got home and I was ill for two days.
“How on earth can they treat tenants like this? There were three other people viewing it that day. Why put us through it? We deserve more respect.”
A Partners spokesperson said: “This was an administration error on our part. The property was clearly not ready to be viewed and there was never an intention to let the property in its current condition.
“We are in the process of carrying out a full kitchen and bathroom refurbishment, along with a full and thorough clean of the property. We have apologised to all those who attended the viewing and are offering a further viewing when it is ready.”
An Islington Council spokesperson added: “We’re very sorry this council flat was shown in this condition. This should never have happened and we have spoken to Partners about how this happened.”
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