A REDDITCH resident has spoken of the ‘atrocious conditions’ he and his family have lived in over many years in their council home, claiming his complaints to the borough council have fallen on deaf ears.
The man said around three years ago the council removed an upstairs radiator to conduct other work, but the pipe connections were incorrectly sealed and only relied on the thermostat to stop the water.
He added the thermostat failed, resulting in severe leaks and damage to his furniture and, despite contacting the council numerous times, the issues were not addressed.
He said he had to put black tape on the kitchen floor to stop black gunk gushing through and when it did, the smell was horrendous and his wife had to wash the floor three-times-a-day.
The resident added a request for an extractor fan – which he even offered to financially contribute to – was turned down and the resulting steam caused mould and damp in his kitchen and nearby bathroom, bringing plaster off the walls.
He said promises of upgrades to his kitchen and bathroom units had not been fulfilled with just bath tiles taken off and left outside his front door.
A kitchen unit was delivered and left outside his house for two months, blocking an outside light, before being removed again.
He claims he spent thousands on materials to renovate other areas of his house but cannot do it until the council work is completed.
His said his upstairs bathroom tap also would not turn off and items in his attic had been contaminated by asbestos.
“Me and my family have all suffered greatly and we don’t know when any of the work will be finished.
“My five children shouldn’t be growing up in an environment like this and my wife and I are embarrassed to ask people to our home.
“We take great pride in our home, we constantly clean and paint our house and we want to renovate and better maintain it but we can’t because of council incompetence.”
A council spokesperson said: “We are aware of the issues currently faced by the tenant and are working to get them resolved.
“We identified the kitchen and bathroom need replacing and have surveyed the works which need doing.
“The works were passed to our contractor to action in October 2022.”
The authority added the kitchen works were delivered on-site but were put into depot storage due to the resident refusing workers access – which the resident denies.
“The tenant also requested an extractor hood be added in the kitchen layout which is non-standard and is not provided as part of the works.”
She added the council would provide and fit extractor fans in both the kitchen and bathroom to dispel smells and or moisture.
“As part of the plan, discussed with the resident, issues relating to the floor will also be remedied as part of the kitchen works.
“We will continue to liaise with the tenant on these issues to come to a suitable solution.”
