Disabled woman, 34, earning £2,300 benefits a month says she hates council house because it’s making her dog ‘depressed’ and giving her a blocked nose and sore throat

A disabled woman who says she earns £2,300 in benefits a month has revealed how she despises her local council for ‘making her dog depressed'.

Zkiah Smith, from Greenwich, southeast London, said she was forced to quit being a hairdresser when she was 24 because her hypermobile joints left her unable to walk. 

The 34-year-old who is unemployed because of her disability told MailOnline: ‘I'm like an old retired lady, which isn't so bad.'

However, despite saying she earns £27,000 in benefits a year and lives in a council house with rent of just £193.99 a month, Zkiah said she was angry with Greenwich Council.

She believes the rest of the Ignatius Sancho Road Estate in Greenwich being built outside her flat is giving her three-year-old dog Bruno dandruff and making him depressed.

The young woman admitted her contract didn't allow for a second dog, which Bruno is, without registering him with the council but said her situation had got too bad to stay silent.

She claimed construction dust and poor air filtration was causing a multitude of health problems for herself and her dogs and she was worried they could even develop cancer.

Zkiah said: ‘[Bruno] seems quite anxious. He has always been an anxious dog but especially so from being here.

‘[He] has gone from having a glossy coat to having dandruff and itchy skin.'

She said she bought him shampoo and sardines to help his omega three levels, which she hopes will boost the quality of his skin.

The 34-year-old added: ‘He's not been great in his mental health since we have been here.

‘Both my dogs had bouts of diarrhoea since they moved. It's a bit of a nightmare. 

‘I have been noticing my health declining. 

‘I constantly have to blow my nose. I'm sneezing excessively. My throat hurts all the time. I just don't feel very well.'

Zkiah believes she has sick building syndrome, an illness that may be related to poor ventilation in buildings and normally it occurs in offices.

The 34-year-old is originally from Lincoln but moved to London to become a hairdresser.

However, after five years she felt forced to quit aged 24 because of her condition.

She said she was out of work for ‘a couple of years' without receiving benefits before she managed to start receiving Pip and Universal Credit. 

Zkiah moved into her current council home in November 2024 but said she was ‘appalled and shocked' that the council had housed them somewhere like this.

‘It's constant unrelenting noise from the building site,' she said.

‘My own air purifiers – I had to change them every few weeks instead of every few months. 

‘I had constant bloody noses.

‘In April, I found out I had an MVHR [a Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery system].

‘You've left me, a disabled person, with a [ventilation] unit I didn't know existed.

‘I spiralled into this investigative mode.

‘It was months of health decline. Then I realised the scale was actually much bigger.

‘I thought it was how the council failed me but even people who had been maintaining [their MVHRs], they were still reporting the same health issues.

‘I realised something bigger going on. The scale is astronomical.

‘There must be something massive here.

‘This [council flat] is purely Greenwich Council, it's not even a housing association.

‘It's their responsibility.'

Zkiah believes her next avenue is seeking aid from a lawyer.

She said: ‘The council has failed us. I think I need legal help. 

‘I want them to admit what they have done. I think they are trying to bury this.

‘They need to do the right thing – rehouse people who are ill [and] compensate them for putting them in danger.'

A Greenwich Council spokesman said: ‘Everyone should have access to a safe and secure home that meets their needs. Through Greenwich Builds we are delivering 1,750 sustainable new council homes – the most in a generation – for local people on our waiting list.

‘At Ignatius Sancho Road have built 122 new homes and a further 330 are under construction including much needed three-bed and four-bed family homes that are set to be finished by the end of next year.

‘We understand that living next door to building work can be disruptive. Tenants would have been aware that parts of the development were still under construction when they signed their tenancy agreement. 

‘Each home has mechanical vents, that are fully in line with building regulations and approved by Building Control, to make sure our new developments are as sustainable as possible, which is greener for the environment and better for the residents who call them home.

‘As part of the tenancy agreement, tenants accept responsibility for cleaning dust and debris from the vents of their home every few months, however we will service the filters on behalf of vulnerable and disabled tenants – now this has been brought to our attention. 

‘We are aware of concerns about the door entry system and we are working to address them with the contractor as swiftly as possible.'