Inside Luton’s Shire House: Mould, peeling paint and some families living in one room

The building, at 400 Dallow Road, was converted into 109 residential flats in 2019 by owners Devonhurst Investments Limited. In February 2022, Luton Borough Council issued a planning enforcement notice to stop the use of the flats and reverse the changes, saying the structures “did not have adequate access to natural light and ventilation”.

After multiple appeals and an inquiry, a ruling has been made to demolish 28 of the 109 units. Devonhurst Investments Limited says it has since carried out extensive works to the flats (pictured at the end of the gallery). But photographs taken by our reporter show the conditions that some people had been living in at the time of the inquiry.

After attending the first day of the inquiry, in the council chambers, I went along with some residents of Shire House to have a look inside their homes and see first-hand the issues they have been experiencing.

I was met by a maze of rooms and structures.

If you go through the main entrance, past the letterboxes, you are led out into the centre of the development – a wholly confusing layout.

I noticed how dark and dank it felt, despite it only being 3pm. For anyone living on the ground floor, walking down dark outdoor corridors are part of daily life.

It felt like an office block – but belongings, clothes, toys and toilet rolls stacked by the windows showed that families lived inside.

While most of the homes I went into had small, rectangular windows – with little to no light coming in – those who were lucky enough to have a larger window either overlook a busy road, a car park or the neighbouring industrial estate.

Even the fire exit felt like a hazard. With no protection from the elements, the metal stairs got slippery when wet.

I was shocked when I entered the places these people called home, to be greeted by water leaks, peeling paint, black mould and poor ventilation.

And as for outdoor space, despite the whole structure basically being outside, there was no green space for children to play.

I was invited into Mary Leif’s home that she shares with her son.

She showed me that despite it being recently painted, the mould keeps coming back – especially around her son’s bed.

Pulling back the curtain, just inches from where he sleeps, the blind is stained from the damp. She said: “There is no ventilation. I can’t open the window, it’s all wet.”

I visited the home of mum-of-four Mahathar Sivakumar. Her bathroom was dotted with spores of mould. For three years, the family had been living in one room.

Her eldest daughter said: “I get the flu, I get sick being here. There’s no ventilation, but when we open the windows, there’s too much noise.”

I spoke with Naima Stitou, a mother of two. She has been living in her top floor flat since 2020 after being moved there by Harrow Council.

I was appalled when I stepped inside her home. Her two young children don’t have their own room. They were forced to move all their soft furnishings into the kitchen because of the leaking roof in their bedroom. So Naima and her children sleep in one room while the bedroom remains empty, just flakes of paint littering the floor. And in the second bedroom, which was filled with clothes and wardrobes, there were huge spots of black mould.

She described living there as “one of the most traumatic experiences of my life, emotionally, physically, and mentally”.

Naima became homeless just after giving birth to her first daughter in 2017. After her ex-partner lost his business, and despite working two jobs, they could not qualify for private renting in London.

Naima explained: “I had nowhere to go with my newborn baby and ended up in shared housing. When Shire House was presented to me, it wasn’t really a choice. I was told either to accept it or my homelessness application would be closed. I felt forced to accept it.

“At the time, I was desperate for stability. I thought maybe this would be a turning point—a place to rebuild my life and give my children a proper home. I came to Shire House full of hope and motivation. I had trained as a nurse in my home country, and I had a dream of studying psychology in the UK and helping others. I even joined the Samaritans as a Listening Volunteer because I wanted to give something back to the community.

“But again, that journey was interrupted by the same housing crisis. The conditions in Shire House made it impossible to focus, to study, or to rest. Mould, noise, water leaks, and eventually a collapsing ceiling meant I was living in constant survival mode. I had to turn the kitchen into a sleeping and living space because the bedroom was always leaking—even in summer—from rainwater trapped in the ceiling. Every time a repair was done, we thought things would improve—but then the problems would come back. The cycle never ended.”

She is in therapy, as she tries to recover from the years of stress and fear.

Naima told me: “I’ve lost confidence and focus—things I need in order to return to healthcare or study again. It feels like those dreams were stolen from me.

“My children have suffered too. They’ve grown up without the safety and stability that every child deserves. Their education and emotional well-being have been affected, and these are years we can never get back.”

For Naima, the ruling has not gone far enough.

She said: “Demolishing just part of Shire House is not enough. The entire building is unsafe and not fit for families. And even the area around it lacks basic safety—there is no proper pedestrian crossing for children walking to school. The only one leads into an industrial zone, which is completely unsuitable for families. “Shire House was supposed to be a home. Instead, it became a place of trauma. What residents need now is not just demolition, but real, long-term change. We need safe, dignified housing that allows people to heal, grow, and live… not just survive.”

A spokesperson for Devonhurst Investments Limited said: “By a decision dated 3 July 2025 a government inspector has allowed Devonhurst Investments Limited’s appeal against an enforcement notice served by Luton Borough Council in February 2022.

"The enforcement notice had sought to require Devonhurst to return the building to an empty shell, removing 109 flats and requiring the eviction of 109 families within six months.

“The inspector has upheld a solution, which was previously offered by Devonhurst some time ago, entailing the retention of 81 flats and the creation of an internal courtyard replacing 28 of the flats over a more manageable period, for all those affected, of 17 months.

“The inspector criticised various aspects of the council’s actions, including refusing to agree various matters with the appellant, not making senior officers available for cross-examination at the inquiry and causing the adjournment of a previous hearing.

“It was disappointing to note that the Council could have accepted the same proposed solution some time ago which would have saved public funds, avoided wasted costs and prevented unnecessary stress for the occupiers and all parties involved.”