Look at this poor man's council flat 😢

[charabanctrip]

And he lives here with his elderly carer (? mum) and a cat.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-59302526

Shocking and makes me furious. How can someone be asked to live like that?

Wow what happened 😳

Wow that is genuinely shocking, I just had a look at the management and owners as I was assuming some kind of dodgy private landlord. Its pure council owned housing that a voluntary residents association has taken over the management of since 2006. It clearly does not work at all.

I can believe it. A similar thing happened in a block of flats in Croydon, a leaking water pipe and black mould everywhere (and not just in one flat) They didn't do anything until it got on TV.

www.itv.com/news/2021-05-07/croydon-council-lacked-care-and-respect-for-tenants-report-finds-following-itv-news-housing-mould-investigation

Jesus that is absolutely shocking

Shameful

Absolutely awful. His description of being offensive to pharmacy customers, having to wait outside, the helplessness and hopelessness, is dreadful, that poor man and his carer (parent?)

It's horrendous but I suspect there is other stuff going on here as well. Looks like he's a hoarder and there are general hygiene issues. And as soon as the council found out what was going on and the state of disrepair he was moved. I've seen elderly people live like this in their own houses for various reasons so it's not necessarily the council's fault. Just very sad that they lived like this at all.

It's obviously awful, and needs investigating, but there's more going on there.
There's rubbish all over the floor- empty milk bottles etc. A flat doesn't get like that overnight.

It says he has a live in carer. Does that care not involve throwing away rubbish?

Oh sorry I didn't read it properly and didn't realise he had already complained to the council. I wonder why there's so many empty plastic bottles lying around everywhere.

I’m a HA tenant and while I thankfully have never had to live in conditions like those that have been publicised, I did have to wait 3 years for my roof to be fixed, and that only happened then because I got a solicitor involved.

What happens is, you call and report a leak. They take ages to send someone round. When they finally do, that person tells you they can’t fix it and they’ll put in a report. You then chase that up and they tell you it’s with some manager to be signed off, which never happens. Then you chase again and they tell you they’ve changed contractors so someone else will have to come. My HA changed contractors 3 times so each time I had to start the cycle again. You call and call and call, and keep being told it’s with someone higher up and you’ll be contacted, but no one ever gets back to you. Meanwhile the problem gets worse so then it needs to be “assessed” yet again. I finally told them I wanted to lodge a formal complaint. A complaint manager was meant to contact me. They never did. A friend told me about the solicitor and even with his involvement, the HA dragged their heels and it took another 9 months from me contacting him.

This is how these places end up so bad. They just don’t care.

I'm sorry he is living like that, but I'm not sure the council can be fully blamed for this. There is clearly a general lack of tidying and cleaning going on before the leak. Think the carer needs to take their share of the blame.

Yes the house is messy, but it's also got inches of filthy standing water on the floor! It must be difficult to clean under those conditions, especially for a person with physical disabilities and an elderly person. The large number of plastic bottles made me wonder if he had attempted to bail some of the water out then realised it was hopeless just appalling, poor man.

He's entitled to have the property repaired though; and it makes no sense for the repair to be ignored as what starts off as a small repair then becomes humongous. He needs to complain to the Ombudsman.

What has the carer been doing? It’s their job to care for this man

@YouCantBeSadHoldingACupcake

I'm sorry he is living like that, but I'm not sure the council can be fully blamed for this. There is clearly a general lack of tidying and cleaning going on before the leak. Think the carer needs to take their share of the blame.

Yes he really should be making the best of it - perhaps a water feature in the kitchen lake, paint colour to match the black mould.

FFS, he's vulnerable.

@loislovesstewie

He's entitled to have the property repaired though; and it makes no sense for the repair to be ignored as what starts off as a small repair then becomes humongous. He needs to complain to the Ombudsman.

Exactly! Everyone deserves to have a home that is dry and with safe electrics, messy or not! The mess didn't cause the pipe to burst.

That is not just down to the council a bucket under the leak and cleaning looks like it has not happened in 20 plus years which is their doing not the council yes they should have fixed the leak by now though but over the last 2 years most councils have only done emergency repairs

His carer is described as elderly, and probably needs help themselves. So many disabled and elderly people fall under the radar.

EH come down in private landlords like a tonne of bricks but don’t seem to give a shit about council owned homes.

@AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken

What has the carer been doing? It’s their job to care for this man

What's the carer supposed to do? The man said that he had been complaining about the conditions to the council for 2 years. What other possible recourse could they have??? Their only way of getting the repairs done was to request the council to fix it, which they didn't do.

@Dddccc

That is not just down to the council a bucket under the leak and cleaning looks like it has not happened in 20 plus years which is their doing not the council yes they should have fixed the leak by now though but over the last 2 years most councils have only done emergency repairs

A pipe leaking, especially to the extent that it's caused inches of standing water and seeped into the electrics surely counts as an emergency repair though. I can't think of anything that would be more of an emergency!

@shreddednips

Make formal complaint?
Take photos and go to citizens advice?
Contact Shelter?

It reads as if the guy was dealing with it all on his own. If his carer is too elderly and frail to advocate for him then they both need to be cared for.

They're both vulnerable it seems. How effective can a carer be if they're elderly and living under those conditions?