A mother with a severely disabled son was horrified when she was finally moved from a mould-ridden home to a newly built one - only to find it was "worse".

Marlene Levoy and her son had been on a waiting list for 11 years when she moved from a damp housing association flat in Swiss Cottage to a newly built home in Haverstock on September 5.

The specially adapted ground floor garden flat in Antony Grey Court is one of 119 "high specification" homes built by developer Bouygues and Camden Council.

But Marlene was horrified when after just five days her toilet collapsed and she had to call the fire brigade to stop the flood, with more problems over the weeks that followed.

The 50-year-old, who works as a secretary, said: "I was really upset. I've gone from one bad place to another that's worse.

"If it's bad in a few days, imagine what it will be in a few years."

Ham & High: The bathroom in Marlene Levoy's brand new flat in Camden

Three weeks after the initial flood, her bathroom floor tiles started to crack and water appeared to come though the walls. 

She then noticed black mould growing on the wall grout and up the wall.

Marlene's 20-year-old son has Donohue's Syndrome, also known as leprechaunism, a rare genetic illness that can lead to life-threatening infections.

A doctor warned he was at risk of hospitalisation and even death due to mould in their previous home. She fears the new one is no better.

And after her foot went through her bedroom floor, she believes the whole building is defective.
Ham & High: Marlene Levoy's bedroom floor in the newly built Antony Grey Court in HaverstockMarlene Levoy's bedroom floor in the newly built Antony Grey Court in Haverstock (Image: Marlene Levoy)

She added: "Mould in Swiss Cottage took 18 years, mould here took five days. Living here is turning into hell and it's not just me, they've had to move out other tenants as well.

"My son is really concerned about the long-term evolution of Anthony Grey Court, bearing in mind the place is already falling apart less than three months after moving in."

She has since been moved to an upstairs flat while repairs are carried out, but these may not be completed until March.

Marlene tackled the Bouygues chief executive and Camden councillors when the buildings were officially opened by MP and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in December.

Ham & High: Marlene Levoy says many homes in newly built Antony Grey court have problemsMarlene Levoy says many homes in newly built Antony Grey court have problems (Image: Nathalie Raffray)

She said they lifted her bathroom floor, saw the black mould and pledged to remedy it.

Bouygues declined to respond independently from Camden Council. Neither would say how much the contract to build the high quality homes was worth, nor the cost of repair.

A Camden spokesperson said: “We are very sorry that Ms Levoy has experienced these problems in her home – it does not meet the high-quality standards that we require in our newly built homes.

“We would like to thank Ms Levoy for sitting down with us and our contractor, Bouygues UK, to discuss her concerns. We have given her our commitment to get her home back up to standard as quickly as we can.

“Ms Levoy has moved to another new home in her building while we complete this work and we would like to thank her for her patience and understanding at this time.

"We will keep in regular contract with her until the job is done.”