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Terminally Ill Tenant: Cancer Patient Forced to Occupy Leaking, Vermin-Infested Flat While Waiting for Her Home to Be Demolished

2nd December 2022 By Arman Khosravi

A Woman battling cancer has revealed she only has months to move out of her home – with nowhere else to go, as Ealing Council refuses to help.

Erzsebet Kovacs was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer in 2021. There were delays in getting treatment due to COVID backlogs which lead to her breast cancer metastasising to multiple sites, and the cancer in her spine caused fractures in her vertebrae, making movement excruciatingly painful.

Erzsebet lives in Jerome Towers on the 12th floor. Erzsebet’s flat is home to infestation of mice, seen running round the kitchen. The cold water runs warm, and a permanently open window in a kitchen with no heat source makes the flat freezing cold. In the recent heavy rain, rainwater came through her bedroom window and ceiling. Following a judicial review being issued, Ealing Council have fixed the boiler, window and treated the mice. One treatment will not get rid of mice. Treating the mice in the flat (on the twelfth floor) will not get rid of the problem as this is an issue on all floors.

The lift to their floor was broken down for over a week, forcing Erzsebet’s son, Mike, to carry her down for her chemotherapy appointments, causing pain and indignity to both her and her son. No room has been provided for her carers to stay overnight. The boiler was left faulty for a year and cladding outside the building presents a potential fire risk.

The owners, London Borough of Ealing, have since scheduled it for demolition. She has been served a Notice to Quit her home. Despite applying to Ealing Council for help with housing, they refused to accept her application as – in their view – her accommodation is reasonable for her to occupy, and she is not imminently threatened with homelessness. They want her to wait to be evicted by Court bailiffs before helping her.

Erzsebet, who is currently undergoing rounds of chemotherapy, has said the ordeal has added stress she does not have the mental capacity to deal with as she’s faced with uncertainty about her home. For her treatment to work she has been advised that she needs to rest. Not only is she fighting a medical battle, but she is fighting for a place to live during what is meant to be the happiest time of the year, Christmas.

This could be your loved one. Erzsebet Kovacs spent her life caring for others as a Senior Nurse in London hospitals. and now in her time of need, together we must help.

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