Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Croydon flats - on the news

180 replies

Blinkinblimey · 22/03/2021 22:19

I just saw a family in sopping wet flats where they were at risk of electrocution.

Fucking horrendous. You wouldn’t want to visit let alone live there.

How do housing teams allow this to happen? It really shouldn’t take the 10 o’ clock news to highlight appalling living conditions.

Feel so sad and angry.

OP posts:
CornishTiger · 23/03/2021 06:41

I’m so bloody mad at this. Should never ever happen.

MrsDThomas · 23/03/2021 06:44

I watched it and it was utterly disgusting. I have to pay and register with Rent Smart Wales to ensure i comply with regulations. If this was my property and rented it out I’d be in jail!

Seymour5 · 23/03/2021 06:54

The worst neglect by a council housing dept I've ever seen, and I've visited lots of properties. Water and electrics can be lethal, those poor people! The block needs a complete, independent, inspection, and those in charge of housing maintenance should be made to take responsibility.

Gladimnotcampinginthisweather · 23/03/2021 07:03

I wonder why it has gone on so long.

tttigress · 23/03/2021 07:07

@MayYouLiveInInterestingTimes

Private rentals can be just as bad too.

‘6th richest country in the world’ is so commonly quoted. It’s a place to be ashamed of.

Not 6th richest on a GDP per capita basis, more like in the mid to low 20's:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

Samcro · 23/03/2021 07:57

saw it and couldn't believe any has to live like that. it was horrifying .

abstractzebra · 23/03/2021 07:59

It's just so hard to get people to listen when you've got housing issues.
Usually councils/HAs have got so many properties on their books and are badly run.
If they are badly run for residents, they are badly run for staff so less people want to work for them, so repairs don't get done or get done badly.
Every now and then a story hits the news and there's a little flurry of interest and then people forget or they don't feel strongly enough to do anything as it only really effects the people who live there.
As I said previously, I'm a leaseholder to a housing association and any time I need to get in touch about services and charges, it becomes a soul destroying battle to even get a reply!
I can completely understand why these people have just about given up because they've probably been going round in circles forever being promised a solution, then being let down over and over again.
I wonder what their MP or Local Councillors are doing to help.

RufustheSniggeringReindeer · 23/03/2021 08:00

It was absolutely dreadful, how people can be expected to live like that i dont know

And its shameful that it takes a tv report to get the council to do anything

Who has voted yabu? I absolutely agree that people have their own opinions and blame different things for this type of situation but surely saying yabu is to agree that people should be left in these conditions

RufustheSniggeringReindeer · 23/03/2021 08:01

Not who

Thats wrong i dont care who voted yabu, my query should really be why they voted yabu

TakemedowntoPotatoCity · 23/03/2021 08:06

Every single person in Croydon should block their council tax payments until those poor people are.moved into alternative accommodation until this is sorted out.

Motnight · 23/03/2021 08:09

It's horrendous. Lockdown must have been hell on earth for these people.

GreenlandTheMovie · 23/03/2021 08:25

It was the poor people squelching through water soaked carpets that hot to me the most. And Mr mcnally saying he got a better response when phoning if he didnt use his Christian name...

I'm a private landlord of an hmo in Scotland and the hoops we have to jump through just to rent out the property are legendary - over 12 different annual safety checks have to be carried out, most of which involve inspections of the property. There is an annual inspection and the license costs £650 per year. Then there is private landlord registration on top of that. If anyone complains about my property or tenants, I'm hauled in front of a hearing. We have all just had to get electrical performance certificates and need at least a "D" to improve to a "C" within 18 months.

Yet none of these requirements apply to council or HA properties which are more likely to have families with children living in them! The smoke/heat alarm system I have in my HMO is so sophisticated, its safer than most hotels or workplaces. Possibly safer than any rented property elsewhere in the world.

So how are councils getting away with this?

Bagelsandbrie · 23/03/2021 08:28

I used to live and work in Croydon and the council housing has always been bad. It’s disgusting. People are just utterly trapped in poverty.

caramac04 · 23/03/2021 08:34

I saw this and was horrified, the poor mother looked close to breakdown and I’m not surprised. Nobody should be expected to live like this. A complete lack of maintenance now means the building is probably beyond repair and somebody/department is responsible for this utter shambles. I doubt this situation will be addressed and rectified very soon. Maybe the tenants should use their rent to club together and employ a private contractor to begin repairs. I suppose they would be punished if they did that though.
Agree with PP who mentioned the creaming off of money by using cheaper and cheaper subcontractors. This should be outlawed as the initial contractor is rarely overseeing standards and completion of work to timescales.

GreenlandTheMovie · 23/03/2021 08:40

@caramac04

I saw this and was horrified, the poor mother looked close to breakdown and I’m not surprised. Nobody should be expected to live like this. A complete lack of maintenance now means the building is probably beyond repair and somebody/department is responsible for this utter shambles. I doubt this situation will be addressed and rectified very soon. Maybe the tenants should use their rent to club together and employ a private contractor to begin repairs. I suppose they would be punished if they did that though. Agree with PP who mentioned the creaming off of money by using cheaper and cheaper subcontractors. This should be outlawed as the initial contractor is rarely overseeing standards and completion of work to timescales.
It's honestly really upsetting. Their homes were so nice apart from that, but a lot of their belongings and furniture have been ruined as well.

I just don't get it. If so much as a fridge breaks (and all my properties have two) or a tumble dryer, I face threats to withhold rent, claim damages for lost food, report me to the hmo unit, etc (and if that happened, I'd have a council inspector out pdq in person) but councils get away with providing accommodation that isn't fit for human habitation?

I guess there's nowhere else to move these tenants to (the news said they had been moved into a hotel, which isn't ideal either).

Matrottinetteelectrique · 23/03/2021 08:46

Min wage contractors will be sent to sort it, while any big bosses getting the chop will get big severance pay outs - all to be paid for by Croydon council tax payers.

Meruem · 23/03/2021 08:55

The answer is to get a solicitor involved. I had a leak in my bathroom roof (HA property) and a friend gave me the number of a firm of housing solicitors that do it on a no win no fee basis. I didn’t do it for compensation, I just wanted the roof fixed. The HA had dragged their heels for months beforehand, I even raised a formal complaint with them before going to the solicitor, which they ignored! I tried every avenue first.

The solicitor got it all sorted. For one it was a relief to have it out of my hands and not be the one to continually try and chase them up and get nowhere. Secondly they could only stall for so long once a solicitor was involved because then there were legal time frames in which the HA had to respond, or they’d end up in Court. My HA broke housing laws just for that one leak so having seen those Croydon flats last night, I can’t imagine how many laws they’ve broken.

I have realised that absolutely the only way to get things done is to take legal action. And being no win no fee, it costs nothing. I wouldn’t hesitate to go down the same route again in future if necessary.

Iwantacookie · 23/03/2021 08:55

I've only just seen this and I'm surprised by the level of damp.
I cant believe it's taken this long to get anything sorted.
I also didnt realise councils could go bankrupt! That in itself is scary.

Mummyoflittledragon · 23/03/2021 09:01

This is horrendous. I’m floored. As a ll myself, I had no idea. There is so much legislation nowadays to protect tenants and I was going to say, the affected apartments should be confiscated from the owners. But I see they’re council owned properties. So local government isn’t following national guidelines let alone law. Heads should roll. No cushy gardening leave. Why hasn’t national government stepped in in such circumstances?!

dudsville · 23/03/2021 09:07

How appalling, that place doesn't even need to be fixed, just demolished, those poor people. When I was young and penniless I lived in a basement flat that flooded occasionally but was damp always. Snails thrived in the kitchen. There was not enough hot water to bathe properly. I always felt cold and ill. Humanity is sick.

Walkingtheplank · 23/03/2021 10:23

I still can't get over the image of the carpets being sodden, all those buckets catching water and the Council saying there wasn't a leak. I just don't understand how it could get that bad with no one from the Council realising.

It sounds like numerous calls/letters were ignored (why?) but surely there is a regular maintenance programme and the council staff who visited for a regular maintenance check would have at least noticed that they squelched as they entered the building.

namechange53848593 · 23/03/2021 10:27

This has me so sad and angry for those poor people. How on earth this has been allowed to happen is beyond me. These are people's homes. One of the most important and basic of needs and yet they are expected to live in conditions you'd imagine you'd only see in a third world country.

I work in social housing (not in Croydon!) and I feel utterly ashamed to see this is how others in my sector are behaving. Where is the accountability for those involved in these failings and how this been allowed to reach this stage before anyone has stepped in. The council's staff, the ombudsman, councillors, mp's, solicitors... where were those people when these residents needed them. This has made me deeply concerned that the sector I work in is not as transparent as I believed it to be.

I went into housing to help people and these residents have been failed so badly. I can't understand how anyone could think this is acceptable and why no one has reached out to help them until it has gone to the press.

AcornAutumn · 23/03/2021 10:32

It sounds like a lot of people don't know how councils work, or don't work.

Which is part of the problem. I realise everyone can't concern themselves with everything but your local council is...your doorstep. And there's a huge amount of neglecting basic humanity going on, all while eyeing up ambitious investments that will put money into the hands of their mates.

I can't do a lot but when they got rid of social housing here, I did at least object, take food round to those who were staying till they were physically removed etc. They got sent out of london because our council have no money for them but they did have money to consult on getting rid of libraries and setting up shopping centres.

Now about to run the latter again because the first two were deemed inadequate on account of those losing their homes and offices not being directly informed....

murbblurb · 23/03/2021 10:45

@acornautumn are you also in Shropshire? (Don't forget the plan to spend many millions on a useless polluting road so the adjacent flood plain can be sold off to developers..) also near bankruptcy, I fear.

The state of those flats made me so angry.

Mumofsend · 23/03/2021 10:48

Jeez that's horrendous.

I live in a HA flat, I'm upstairs. For 15 months both I and downstairs were in contact with the HA every week because we had a leak. It took her ceiling caving in for them to do anything about it. Its all shocking