A nurse who has lived in a Kingston property since 2009 says she feels "bullied" by Kingston Council after repeatedly reporting issues of damp, mould, and woodworm to the authority since late 2023, yet receiving no help.

The woman, referred to as Ms X and a lifelong Kingston resident, told Nub News that her home had "severe water leaks from a shared soil stack and waste pipe", and that the issues were first identified in December 2025, "then supposedly fixed in March 2026".

She added: "I was decanted from my home in November 2025 due to the disrepair and I remain displaced to this day, paying full rent and full council tax on a property I cannot live in, while the council pays for temporary accommodation."

Ms X explained that the council blamed her "protruding wall" on soil stacks on the roof.

She said: "They said that they fixed the soil stacks in the roof, and it will dry everything out, all will be fine and dandy, and then it was August when they knocked out part of that wood, and said, 'Oh, I don't know why the meter reading's still very wet'."

The nurse added that the council previously told her it needed to knock her wall down and re-plaster it. She said that her neighbour had a similar issue.

In November last year, Ms X said she was "decanted" from her property in 2025 and that the council put her in a Travel Lodge, where she discovered bedbugs.

She was then moved to a Premier Inn, but she said, "at one stage, the council forgot to rebook the booking, and I had nowhere to go".

In March, Ms X was relocated to a second-floor, self-contained apartment, which is part of the crown plaza Hotel in Thames Ditton, but she claims that it has carpet beatles.

She still remains there now and said she is to remain there.

Ms X added: "I was told via email on 20 March that from 30 March, in a further three weeks time, the property would be ready for me to move back into.

"However, sometime in April, the cleaners came knocking saying the apartment was being vacated. I spoke to reception who confirmed no booking extension. So, I packed up my belongings, handed the keys back, and tried to contact RBK, but got no response until the following day when I was told I would remain here until the repairs in my home are completed.

"The April , July/August timelines were missed. A new extended timeline has been given to me and instead of getting on with the work and the adjoining property, my pre-existing cameras and doorbell camera is an issue that is now 'harassing the workers and stopping them from completing work (hilighting there non existent works)', according to the council.

"It's unfair and a prime example of the bullying tactics I still face/ receive from RBK."

Since requesting a Subject Access Request from the council in March, Ms X claimed that she was recently told the property was finished and ready for sign‑off.

However, she said, "Before they plastered and painted, I explicitly warned them the wall was still wet — just two weeks earlier you could clearly see it was completely saturated. They went ahead anyway.

"Within weeks the plaster and paint bubbled and failed. They had to strip the whole wall back.

"Only then — after five months of not checking next door — did they finally go and look. They found next door's dehumidifier wasn't working, and that the property was completely saturated, covered head to toe in thick black mould.

"Suddenly the story changed - they said 'next door must be resolved before yours can be completed.' That was only a few weeks ago.

"Yet somehow they also claimed 'it will be ready in September', but on 10 September 2026, damp readings were still 536 — far too high for anyone to live there. How it can be described as ready with readings at that level is beyond me.

"90 days have now been added to the works, and somehow this is being called my fault."

Ms X told Nub News that the council's "latest tactic is to issue a formal 'Letter Before Action' dated 28 September 2026, threatening an injunction and court costs".

She said: "They're even changing the locks on my own home all because I have a ring doorbell at the front door and two cameras facing the windows — one front, one back.

"All of these have been in place since I was decanted in November 2025 — from the very start of these works. They were installed for my own security — to watch over the home I pay full rent on but could not occupy.

"They existed before the leaks were even properly investigated, before the damp got worse, and before any contractors ever set foot inside.

"To claim these devices amount to 'harassment' or that I am being 'obstructive' is simply untrue, as the problems existed long before cameras were ever mentioned and the delays are theirs to explain — not mine.

"My cameras are there to protect my home — nothing more — and they were there first.

"This is not about harassment. It is a convenient excuse. When the wall was wet, and they covered it up, they said it was my fault.

"When next door was ignored for five months, they said it was my fault. When damp readings prove the job still isn't done, they blame the cameras."

Ms X said that on top of paying full rent and council tax for the home she is not living in, she is also paying £280 for electricity bills from the dehumidifiers, and is at risk of being liable for costs if the contractors walk out because of "their failure to complete works".

She added: "I have cooperated at every turn. I attend only when invited. I do not enter unsafely or unannounced.

"Yet I am being threatened with legal action, lock changes, and financial penalty, all while my home sits uninhabitable due to repairs that should have been finished months ago.

"It is a clear pattern: when they can't get the work right, they [the council] blame the tenant. My cameras are there to protect what is mine, and no one should be punished for securing their own home."

Nub News has contacted Kingston Council for comment.