Amoin Brou has lived in a ground floor flat in Winifred Street since 2006 and now has a two-year-old daughter who lives with her.
In 2023, Amoin said she started to notice steam coming from her floorboard and lots of moisture on the floor and walls.
She claimed that she received little help despite reporting it to the council.
On May 20 this year, she says the problem escalated.
Amoin has lived in the flat since 2006 (Image: Amoin Brou) “We woke up to find the flat was full of water and human faeces,” she said.
“You could smell it from outside the building.
“I called the emergency line for the council and they said they’d send someone round – they turned up at 10pm.
“They drained the sewage and water from the toilet and bathtub and they were gone by 11.15pm.”
Newham Council, however, told the Recorder that a plumber was on his way to the flat within an hour of the call.
The water had emerged from Amoin’s toilet and bathtub – both of which she claimed to have had issues with leaks before.
The same problem surfaced only two days later – on May 22 – and this time it was “worse” according to Amoin.
“I called the fire brigade because I didn’t know what else to do”, she said.
“This was around 7.40am and they waited with me until 9am when the council’s housing office phone line opened and they spoke to the council for me.
“They brought sand bags to stop the water from spreading throughout the building.
“Everything was damaged – it wasn’t just clean water, it was water full of poo from the building.”
Newham Council put Amoin and her daughter up in Manor Park Hotel temporarily whilst the flat was being drained.
She remains in this hotel and refuses to return home despite being told she can.
“After two days they called me and said I could come back to my home but I told them I didn’t want to because all my stuff was still wet and had been covered in poo,” she said.
“I cannot go back there – my stuff is still damaged and full of poo – it needs to be disinfected.
“If I get chucked out of the hotel then fine, it’s better for me to be homeless outside than be inside that flat.”
A Newham Council spokesperson said: “Within an hour of Ms Brou contacting Newham Council’s out-of-hours emergency line about her blocked toilet, we had a plumber on the way to her.
“On inspection it was found that a blocked drain outside the housing association property was causing sewage to back up.
“The following week a housing officer visited the property and more work was done to clear the drain.
“While we understand and sympathise with the tenant, blocked drains are a common problem.
“Council tenants are advised to take out household contents insurance to provide protection in the event of damage to personal property.
“The property was cleaned twice by contractors who have video footage of their work on both occasions.”
