Horrific footage shows how rats have infested a whole block of flats in London and turned it into a ‘Victorian Britain hellhole slum’.
Terrified residents are fleeing the block and moving out after feeling ignored and abandoned by the housing association responsible.
The footage shows dozens of rats scurrying across the wall and fixtures of a bin and utility room in Crystal Court in Hackney.
Families living there say they ‘constantly’ see the vermin and hear them during the night, leaving them unable to sleep.
Families say they have spent more than four years begging the housing association, Notting Hill Genesis, to rid the block of the rats.
Destin Domokundi, a 22-year-old-student who has lived there with his mother since 2012, said the ‘disgusting’ issue had been raised ‘over and over’ with the management.
He said: ‘It’s been an issue for years, not just recently.
‘This became an issue four years ago. It’s gotten really intense recently. People have been scared to go into the bin room.
A sea of rats explodes over a doorway amid a infestation at Crystal Court in Hackney, North London
Rat scuttle up the railings in the bin room at the estate before escaping through a hole in the ceiling
Rats scurry over the floor and climb over the railings on the bin room at Crystal Court in Hackney, North London
The rat infestation at Crystal Court is so severe that locals have compared it to a ‘Victorian slum hellhole’
‘Even myself, I’m not queasy around rats, but it’s too much for me. You have to give the door a little tap to spook them before you go in.
‘I feel they are making their way up the stairs. I can hear them in the ceiling.’
Another resident, who has lived in the property for 13 years and pays more than £900 for her flat a month, says she is kept awake at night by the sound of rats scurrying above her ceiling.
She said: ‘I can hear them in the walls. It’s mostly at night – but even in the day you hear packs of them scurrying about.
‘It has been affecting my mental health – I haven’t had a full nights sleep in over a year. It’s awful.
‘Next door had a leak really bad because rats bit through the pipes. So they had to move out for a year.’
The resident, who asked not to be named, showed emails about the rat problem to the block’s management officer from August 2024.
She said that pest control attended last year to lay down traps – but the problem has become increasingly dire since then.
Destin Domokundi (pictured), a 22-year-old-student who has lived there with his mother since 2012, said the ‘disgusting’ issue had been raised ‘over and over’ with the management
A rat scales the railings in the bin room before trying to escape up a hole gnawed in the ceiling
A dead rat is left on the floor at the bin room where pest control have laid down poison and traps
Pest control have now returned to lay down further traps and lock the bin room, but some residents had not been informed and now cannot top-up their gas from the metres housed in the bin and utility room.
Mum Pauline Aldred, 46, who has lived there for two years, said: ‘It’s absolutely horrific. It’s like a horror movie. I cry myself to sleep sometimes at how bad it is.
‘I am terrified of rats and any vermin. This is the worst situation I have ever been through in my life. It’s utter hell. The housing association has not helped.’
Another local said: ‘It’s the pits. It’s like a Victorian Britain hellhole slum.
‘It’s third world. This should not be Britain in 2025. It’s disgusting.’
A housing manager visited the block earlier in the week – and blamed the rat problem on resident’s not properly disposing of their rubbish, according to residents.
One resident said: ‘They have said the other block’s bin room is spotless, and they have a rat problem too.
‘I think the problem is a vicious cycle. I think that people just open the door and throw the rubbish in because they are scared to go in.
Some residents are so terrified of the infestation they refuse to go into the bin room to drop off their rubbish bins
Locals said they have complained to management at the block in Hackney but ‘nothing’ is done
‘Eleven days ago I sent a formal complaint, but I have had nothing back from them. So now I have gone to the housing ombudsmen.
‘Once a year we have the housing officer come around. No disrespect, but she’s quite young. She doesn’t understand.’
Destin added that the rat infestation is just one problem of many facing the block’s beleaguered residents.
He said: ‘I feel that a proper renovation of the bin room would be a good first step. We haven’t heard anything from them. The whole estate is a mess.
‘The lift barely works. Post turns up weeks after it’s supposed to have been delivered. We used to have a cockroach problem in the early 2010s.’
Notting Hill Genesis houses around 130,000 people in London and the south-east.
A spokesperson for Notting Hill Genesis, said: ‘We are tackling ongoing pest issues at Crystal Court and apologise for the impact this has had on our residents whilst we have been working to resolve matters.
‘Household waste left in communal areas has now been cleared and we have carried out extensive pest control and prevention work, within Crystal Court.
‘Work to clean and remove waste from the bin store has been completed and cleaning will continue to keep the space sanitary.
‘We continue to work with residents and have advised them to take additional care when disposing of waste to prevent these issues from reoccurring.
We will continue regular communications with residents every two days and continue to support them as we resolve this issue.’
