The Fardi family has lived on the Gascoigne Estate since 2003, but say they no longer feel safe in their home.
At the end of February, Mouna Fardi was at home with her 17-year-old son when she said a suspected burglar tried to enter by unlocking the front door through the letterbox.
Terrified, she called her daughter who contacted the police. The family claims officers attended the scene but that no investigation was launched.
Last week, Mouna, a council tenant, told this paper that she still has nightmares in which she sees a hand grasping through her letterbox.
Fearing for her safety, she has moved to a relative’s flat in Hammersmith with her teenage son, where they both sleep in the living room. Her husband, Sallah, remains in Barking.
Her son now has to travel more than an hour-and-a-half to attend college in Essex.
The family’s bid for an emergency move was recently rejected by Barking and Dagenham Council, leaving Mouna separated from her husband and uprooted to the other side of London.
Her daughter Imane, who moved out of the family home a few years ago, said neighbours on the Gascoigne Estate feel they have been “forgotten about” amid wider regeneration of the area.
Barking and Dagenham’s urban regeneration company, Be First, is overseeing the estate revamp, which will see the 1960s blocks demolished in phases and replaced with new-build flats.
The Fardi family’s block – Dovehouse Mead – is earmarked for demolition, but neighbours have not yet been told when this will take place or when they will be rehoused.
Imane claimed that, faced with continued uncertainty, many families living in the block of nine flats had decided to move out, leaving those still living there more vulnerable to crime.
“The only reason criminals target the estate is because it’s mostly derelict and there are only a few people living there,” she said.
She felt that the older parts of the estate have been left “neglected”, saying that fly-tipping from nearby building sites is rife.
A car that crashed outside the block two months ago remains in the car park behind metal barriers.
“As soon as the council knew they were going to demolish the blocks, they forgot about their obligation to maintain the properties,” Imane claimed.
“The stairs stink, there’s shocking damp and the streetlights don’t work.
“They’ve neglected the estate, it’s left my family feeling forgotten about.
“The council is more focused on building these shiny new builds than actually caring about the residents who have lived here for more than 20 years like my mum, people who have built up this community.”
Barking and Dagenham Council has said that a panel of housing managers reviewed the family’s emergency move application, but found no clear evidence of an ongoing threat to their safety.
The local authority said an appeal had been submitted on the family’s behalf, and that a formal response would be given in due course.
A spokesperson said that council records show that six flats in the Fardi family’s block remain occupied.
“While no recent reports of damp or mould were raised during previous assessments, we take such concerns seriously and are investigating this matter further,” they added.
“Additional concerns about street lighting and construction site refuse have been logged and escalated for follow-up actions.”
The council said that Be First had been trying to move families in a way that ensures blocks are not left with only a few occupants.
Metropolitan Police did not respond after being asked for more details about the alleged attempted burglary at the Fardi family home.
