A Borehamwood woman claims she has been left unwell and unable to pursue her dreams of being a professional singer after long-running problems with damp in her home.

Heidi King, who lives in a one-bedroom flat is on Ayot Path, said she feels “completely and utterly traumatised” by the mould, which has plagued her for more than a year.

Ms King had been forced to move out of the flat and live with her parents after suffering from health issues, which she claims are related to the damp.

She complains of overflowing drains, a horrible smell and feel of damp in the air, and of the lack of bath tiles, which were removed and not replaced because of the mould. 

Ms King, who suffers from costochondritis, a painful chest wall condition which makes breathing and sleeping difficult, said: “It’s completely and utterly traumatised me. It’s made me fall into depression. Because the pain is really bad I can’t breathe, then I can’t fall asleep, so it’s affecting my sleeping patterns.

“I wanted to be a singer, but the damp and my illness has ruined my lungs and meant I have had to put my career on hold.”

Officials from housing association Affinity Sutton have visited Ms King with a damp meter which confirmed damp, but only on an external wall.

She said the housing association had done nothing to fix the property and she felt she was being ignored, adding: “I want them to completely fix this property. The rendering needs doing and the tiles in the bathroom and they need to totally redo the sewers outside.”

An Affinity Sutton spokeswoman said the housing association was in communication with Ms King about the mould, which it blames on condensation.

The spokeswoman said: “While household mould is unfortunately a very common problem around this time of year, we of course, appreciate the inconvenience this will be causing Ms King and are working hard to try to help alleviate the issue.

“We can confirm that works have been arranged for the rendering of the rear wall of the building as well as a repair to a small section of the pipework. The replacing of Ms King’s tiles will be arranged for the same time to minimise inconvenience.

“Ms King is able to apply on line for a transfer to another property if she wishes and our allocations team would be more than happy to assist her with this if required.”