Disabled woman, 34, earning £2,300 benefits a month says she hates council house because it's making her dog 'depressed' and giving her a blocked nose and sore throat

A disabled pistillate who says she earns £2,300 successful benefits a period has revealed however she despises her section assembly for 'making her canine depressed'.

Zkiah Smith, from Greenwich, southeast London, said she was forced to discontinue being a hairdresser erstwhile she was 24 due to the fact that her hypermobile joints near her incapable to walk. 

The 34-year-old who is unemployed due to the fact that of her disablement told MailOnline: 'I'm similar an aged retired lady, which isn't truthful bad.'

However, contempt saying she earns £27,000 successful benefits a twelvemonth and lives successful a assembly location with rent of conscionable £193.99 a month, Zkiah said she was aggravated with Greenwich Council.

She believes the remainder of the Ignatius Sancho Road Estate successful Greenwich being built extracurricular her level is giving her three-year-old canine Bruno dandruff and making him depressed.

The young pistillate admitted her declaration didn't let for a 2nd dog, which Bruno is, without registering him with the assembly but said her concern had got excessively atrocious to enactment silent.

She claimed operation particulate and mediocre aerial filtration was causing a multitude of wellness problems for herself and her dogs and she was disquieted they could adjacent make cancer.

Zkiah said: '[Bruno] seems rather anxious. He has ever been an anxious canine but particularly truthful from being here.

'[He] has gone from having a glossy overgarment to having dandruff and itchy skin.'

She said she bought him shampoo and sardines to assistance his omega 3 levels, which she hopes volition boost the prime of his skin.

The 34-year-old added: 'He's not been large successful his intelligence wellness since we person been here.

'Both my dogs had bouts of diarrhoea since they moved. It's a spot of a nightmare. 

'I person been noticing my wellness declining. 

'I perpetually person to stroke my nose. I'm sneezing excessively. My pharynx hurts each the time. I conscionable don't consciousness precise well.'

Zkiah believes she has sick gathering syndrome, an unwellness that whitethorn beryllium related to mediocre ventilation successful buildings and usually it occurs successful offices.

The 34-year-old is primitively from Lincoln but moved to London to go a hairdresser.

However, aft 5 years she felt forced to discontinue aged 24 due to the fact that of her condition.

She said she was retired of enactment for 'a mates of years' without receiving benefits earlier she managed to commencement receiving Pip and Universal Credit. 

Zkiah moved into her existent assembly location successful November 2024 but said she was 'appalled and shocked' that the assembly had housed them determination similar this.

'It's changeless unrelenting sound from the gathering site,' she said.

'My ain aerial purifiers - I had to alteration them each fewer weeks alternatively of each fewer months. 

'I had changeless bloody noses.

'In April, I recovered retired I had an MVHR [a Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery system].

'You've near me, a disabled person, with a [ventilation] portion I didn't cognize existed.

'I spiralled into this investigative mode.

'It was months of wellness decline. Then I realised the standard was really overmuch bigger.

'I thought it was however the assembly failed maine but adjacent radical who had been maintaining [their MVHRs], they were inactive reporting the aforesaid wellness issues.

'I realised thing bigger going on. The standard is astronomical.

'There indispensable beryllium thing monolithic here.

'This [council flat] is purely Greenwich Council, it's not adjacent a lodging association.

'It's their responsibility.'

Zkiah believes her adjacent avenue is seeking assistance from a lawyer.

She said: 'The assembly has failed us. I deliberation I request ineligible help. 

'I privation them to admit what they person done. I deliberation they are trying to hide this.

'They request to bash the close happening - rehouse radical who are sick [and] compensate them for putting them successful danger.'

A Greenwich Council spokesperson said: 'Everyone should person entree to a harmless and unafraid location that meets their needs. Through Greenwich Builds we are delivering 1,750 sustainable caller assembly homes – the astir successful a procreation – for section radical connected our waiting list.

'At Ignatius Sancho Road person built 122 caller homes and a further 330 are nether operation including overmuch needed three-bed and four-bed household homes that are acceptable to beryllium finished by the extremity of adjacent year.

'We recognize that surviving adjacent doorway to gathering enactment tin beryllium disruptive. Tenants would person been alert that parts of the improvement were inactive nether operation erstwhile they signed their tenancy agreement. 

'Each location has mechanical vents, that are afloat successful enactment with gathering regulations and approved by Building Control, to marque definite our caller developments are arsenic sustainable arsenic possible, which is greener for the situation and amended for the residents who telephone them home.

'As portion of the tenancy agreement, tenants judge work for cleaning particulate and debris from the vents of their location each fewer months, nevertheless we volition work the filters connected behalf of susceptible and disabled tenants – present this has been brought to our attention. 

'We are alert of concerns astir the doorway introduction strategy and we are moving to code them with the contractor arsenic swiftly arsenic possible.'