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

I agree that a not-done repair isn't the sole cause of the property getting in this state. While not flooded, my late grandfather's home wasn't far off this in terms of dirt. He obviously couldn't keep it clean himself and didn't get anyone else to. And that was privately owned.

But on the other hand the situation would never have happened if the council had done the repairs they were asked to.

@PlanDeRaccordement

Sorry but the “vulnerable with MH conditions” applies to myself and my DH and we manage to not let things get to such a state. So I don’t think the 55yo man is “a victim” of the entire situation. A victim of a leak not being repaired in a timely fashion, victim of water damage, but the level of filth and rubbish in the videos goes far beyond water damage.

The only real victim is the poor cat having to live with them. RSPCA should be called to rehome the cat.

Vulnerable with MH conditions covers a huger range of abilities and illnesses. Why can't you see that just because you and your husband manage well that somebody else with MH problems will really struggle. The last thing this man needs is judgement.

Becca1996 thank you for sharing your story, and I'm sorry you and your friend have been so badly let down. I honestly think our society is broken. These people are clearly so vulnerable, my heart breaks for them. Shame on everyone who is shrugging and saying they should have made more effort to keep on top of things.

As someone else pointed out they have to be accepting of help in the first place for things to be put in place, I remember a video I saw a while ago about an elderly lady who lived alone and every room was piled to the ceiling with stuff and there was just a single walkway for getting to rooms, she fell and ended up in hospital which triggered a social services assessment, they wanted to get the house sorted to make it safe for her but she refused and just wanted her home to be left how it was, social services hands were tied as she had capacity.

I think eventually they persuaded her to go in to respite to start looking at the house but she quickly changed her mind again.

It’s not cut and dried in all cases and I bet my bottom dollar there is a lot more going on here than the article shows

I think there's more going on, they have possibly been told to contact someone else different council department as mentioned up thread and never done it.

Possibly the tradesmen have refused to enter due to unsafe conditions.

A lot more going on than they are saying. The carer is likely to have become vulnerable themself and unable to cope worn out looking after the 55 year old son.

I know the article says he's been asking for help, but many hoarders do, and then when people actually turn up, they become very defensive (even aggressive) and won't actually allow people inside.

I also agree with PP who've said that tradesmen probably won't enter the property due to how dangerous it is. They're entitled to be/feel safe at work and I suspect they don't, especially if the tenants refuse to leave and potentially make things awkward.

Of course nobody should be living like this and the conditions are horrendous, but having seen people close to me suffer with poor MH issues and receive absolutely no help, there will be more to it than the council just ignoring the situation.

@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?

Yes this, there is a lot going on here - but that just makes the health and social services neglect worse, clearly he needs a social worker and perhaps a mental health referral. And his poor mum needs goodness knows what. It’s a disgrace.