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

A lot of people with mental and physical disabilities find cleaning difficult. Perhaps the carer used to do it, but couldn't manage any more.

@Pennguin

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.

But the story says very clearly that he has mental health issues. Surely they have a duty of care to him?

Horrific.

The flat has no heating or hot water and the kitchen floor is under water. At what point would this classify as emergency repairs...?

Surely with that level of water leakage (and water leaking from light fittings) there is a risk of electrical fire ...as well as all the health problems caused by the water and mould?

@poshme

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?

I agree. There's a lot that can be done with a bit of cleaning and tidying. It looks more both like he and his carer need support.
The mould is awful, but lots of houses get mould - clean it.
The water through the light socket and stuff like that needs to be fixed though.

They probably had to shut the water and electricity off, and its not easy cleaning with no water or just cold water, even if you are fit and able bodied.

The council wouldn't want that to.happen because it would cost them too much to repair. They'd want to fix it straight away. The article says that he has mental.health issues, so.he could have been difficult and aggressive about people coming in. He's clearly a hoarder too. So much going on here, I don't think its fair to blame the council for this 100 percent.

What I don’t understand is that at a minimum, he would need to have statutory gas / electricity checks annually, and my experience of council landlords is that they tend to chase you quite a lot to get it done.

Clearly neither of these could be passed so how has it been allowed to get into such a state?

If my kitchen floor were underwater I doubt I'd make much of an effort to dust the cobwebs

The council wouldn't want that to.happen because it would cost them too much to repair. They'd want to fix it straight away. The article says that he has mental.health issues, so.he could have been difficult and aggressive about people coming in. He's clearly a hoarder too. So much going on here, I don't think its fair to blame the council for this 100 percent.

He had to resort to legal help in order to force the council to do anything. He wanted them to fix the leak. He was banned from going into the local pharmacy due to how much he smelled. Nobody would be able to do that to an aggressive person.

I'm so sad that people are criticising a disabled person who has clearly fallen through the net in spite of repeatedly asking for help.

I agree with others far more going on there than a leaky pipe.

I suspect the place has been a state for years and plumbers have refused to enter, causing the place to get even worse.

The pandemic lockdowns etc can't have helped.

[quote AudHvamm]@SomePosters there is no evidence to suggest black mould causes depression, people living with black mould seem to be more likely to be depressed but no causal link established: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2072855/
It’s really not helpful to peddle misinformation like that.
Black mould can cause significant respiratory problems, particularly for those with asthma and skin conditions like eczema. It’s awful that this man and his career were living in such conditions through the pandemic.[/quote]
There is a growing body of evidence that various moulds and mycotoxins can cause a wide range of neurological symptoms, including depression symptoms

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19854819/

I struggle to see how anyone could look at that and feel anything other than sadness and pity for this poor man. How can anyone insist it's his own fault that he is living like this. It almost doesn't matter. Read his quotes in the article, they're haunting.

I think there are multiple complex issues here.

The leak does not aspects of the property and how the tenant in choosing to live.

At what point in the leak was the council notified? It isn't really a reach to think that someone living such a chaotic existence wouldn't report the problem particularly promptly.

The builders/plumbers instructed by the council have a right to basic levels of health and safety, if the resident wouldn't work with the council to make the home safe for access then it may have become a bit of a stalemate situation.

The mental health act and mental capacity act are quite clear that an individual assessed as having capacity can live how they choose to live even if it falls well below normal societal standards. The quotes suggest that the tenant is fairly coherant. But obviously that doesn't mean that the council can't work with and support him, but only if they are aware of him and he chooses to cooperate.

At least he is out now and work, and support, can begin.

the leak does not account for other aspects....

@SomePosters

You judgey fuckers do know that living with black mould causes depression?

Yes the flat is also messy, I’m sure you’d all be keeping it immaculate despite the mould and 3 inch lake in the kitchen but maybe if you try you can have some empathy for how someone might lose the will to keep on top of stuff while suffering long term depression from constantly breathing in mould

Omg this!! I can’t believe all the victim blaming in this thread?!

Some councils are just utterly shit when it comes to looking after their vulnerable people and it is usually the same councils who are shit at keeping up with repairs.

Can you imagine how disheartening it is to deal with a housing department that is dismissive and careless?

If this video was taken in a developing country we would be be horrified

The landlord has a lot to answer for, of course, but it begs the question why, in two years, would you not pay for a plumber to come and sort it out before it got to that state? I know you shouldn't have to, but dear God, take some responsibility for yourself instead of expecting others to do it for you.

I thought the article was appalling but this thread is worse with the lack of empathy and imagination.

Often being a carer isn’t a career choice; it’s a life sentence when you have a vulnerable or disabled child and live in a society that doesn’t give a fuck.

I quite agree with @thisplaceisweird, the mans comments are 'haunting', I think as a society we should be ashamed that such vulnerable people are left to live like this, clearly both he and his 'carer' have huge difficulties living independently and need some very real help. No doubt its one of those cases where 'lessons will learnt' 'underfunding' noises will be made and meanwhile another person will be living in similar conditions and also sliding under the radar.

It was awful I’m also on social housing and repairs take forever or if leak is coming from another flat it’s “nothing we can do” no logic that it’s their property and causes damage.

Given length time it was happen no wonder looked bad, there was risk of electric shock and death because pouring over everything so not like you want be there any length to clean. Any cardboard put on floor help soak it up make less slipply just going end up as mush etc.

If they had repaired when first reported it wouldn’t been like that. Yes his flat wasn’t Instagram ready but that’s no excuse when they know the reason. Frankly if my kitchen stank and mould I wouldn’t be rushing cleaning it either while risking death.

Hope they are shamed into moving them somewhere safe. Sadly mental health would
Been reason why they ignored and thought less of issue.

* I don't think this is a simple housing issue. I think the council is correct in saying the tenant has unmet needs - he probably needs to be living in a supported flat. I don't think the flat would have got into that state with a typical tenant.*

^Most sensible comment on this thread

Two problems, obviously the repairs need to be done but the place is clearly filthy. Social services need to do an assessment as he and his carer are obviously not coping.

Tbh I also think that some posters on here are shamefully ignorant about the living conditions and mental state of some people, I would be willing to bet that the pair living like this are very poor and completely disenfranchised from society and powerless in situations like this.

Perhaps the leak isn't inside the man's flat but elsewhere in the building and the tenant can't access the pipe?

The council didn’t cause this. No point blaming them. Complex issues at play.
Unpopular view but imo there’s a lot of pressure on people with mental health issues to live in the community when they would be better off in institutional care with people around them. But that’s another story, as of course there were a lot of problems with the institutions too.