Disgusted tenant leaves Luton flat after finding mushrooms growing on the walls

A man who found murshrooms growing in the damp areas of his Luton flat says he has had to move out for his health.

Micheal Watson only moved into the flat in Hatton Place on Midland Road 10 months ago. He had viewed it online because of covid restrictions but says when he finally moved in he was surprised to see a bucket in one of the rooms.

He quickly found it was to catch water from the flats above, when it rained.

The 27-year-old said the situation had got worse after heavy rains earlier this year but he says he was told no work could be done to fix the leaks because of the cladding on the building following changes after the Grenfell disaster.

Despite paying £770 a month in rent, Micheal says he has had to move out. “The whole flat is smelling of mould,” he says.

He says the leaks, which have been coming though light fittings, have made the situation worse.

"I can’t live here with the amount of mould and fungus that I’m getting off the walls. My next door neighbours have had flooding in their hallway, mould and leaks.”

He says he rented the property through Leaders Estate Agents, who this week sent contractors in to scrape the mound off the walls. He says he has had three landlords since he moved in but has not been told their names.

"But I’ve seen mushrooms in the stairwells of the flats,” he said. And he added unless the leaks were sorted the problem would arise again.

A Leaders Estate Agent spokesperson said: “We’re sorry to hear of the damp issues affecting 11 Hatton Place. We can confirm that a contractor visited the property recently to carry out remedial works within the flat/apartment itself, and we are currently working with the landlord and block management to get the leak to the building resolved.

“We take the health and safety of our tenants very seriously and have agreed with the landlord to release the tenant from the tenancy early in this case. We can confirm that the property will not be relet until these issues are resolved.”