‘My son was trapped in rubble after ceiling fell in at rented flat’ in Paddington

A mother says she fears for her family’s safety after a ceiling collapse at her rented apartment which “could have killed” one of her sons.

The woman was woken by a crash “like an earthquake” when the ceiling fell in on her two sleeping sons at the £3,600-a-month flat in Paddington.

She claims that one of her sons was trapped in the rubble and suffered bruising while another son was left with a cut arm. Their sister was asleep in the next room.

She said the brothers have been sleeping on a living room sofa since the collapse on February 1 as there is still a gaping hole above their bedroom.

The woman, who is an architecture student, claims lettings agency Mountgrange Heritage “did nothing” to assess the safety of the flat in Sussex Gardens.

She said: “One of my sons could have been killed if a brick had fallen on his head. It was just before 7am and we were all in bed. I heard a sound that I thought was an earthquake and one of my sons came running in screaming.

“My other son couldn’t get out — the ceiling fell on his bed. He had an exam the next day but the teacher sent him home because he was so distressed.” It is thought the collapse is linked to a water leak in the flat above, which was fixed in March last year but left damp patches on the ceiling.

She claimed that the lettings agency did not send anyone to assess the damage for 10 days after the collapse and the family are scared that the living room and bathroom ceilings could also cave in.

The woman, who has been living there for two years, said: “A surveyor came last Thursday and said the ceiling needs to be repaired immediately. I suggested to the agents they reduce the rent until this is sorted out so we can live somewhere temporarily. But they said there’s other spaces in the flat to live in and if I paid less rent I’d be in breach of my contract. But we are not sure the rest of the flat is safe.”

Knight Frank manage the building, its freehold is held by Hyde Park Estates, and Mountgrange Heritage manages lettings in the block. Mountgrange’s website states: “Minor repairs or emergency works will be carried out immediately and paid for from funds held.”

A spokesman for Mountgrange said: “We can confirm we have helped our client’s tenant as much as reasonably possible but the situation was not caused by any obvious defect in the client’s flat.

“It seems that the incident occurred as a result of a historic water leak from a neighbouring flat. That is handled by the management agency for the building and their insurers, who are handling it.” Knight Frank failed to respond to a request for a comment.