ALL Keith Andrews wants to do is make the entrance hall to his Ibstock Close flat look clean and tidy for friends and family when they visit.
He’s mopped the floors, swept the passageway, hung pictures on the walls and even paid £400 to have a carpet put down.
But Redditch Borough Council had other ideas.
“They made me tear up the carpet and take the pictures down – ‘Grenfell Grenfell’ they kept saying to me, after that tower block that went up in flames in London back in 2017, as if what I was doing was going to cause the same here,” he said.
Keith bought his flat 18 years ago, and it shares a communal entrance with other council-owned properties.
“I was getting embarrassed when people came to visit me – the place looked like a pigsty,” said the 76 year-old.
“So with no alternative, I started tidying the place up myself, keeping the stairs and landing clean and tidying up.
“Then along comes the council and tells me I can’t do it as it’s the council’s job as they own the communal area. Now we pay hundreds of pounds a year for the upkeep of this communal area and as far as I’m concerned they’re not keeping their side of the bargain,” he said.
“First impressions count when people come to visit and what the council is doing is devaluing my property.”
A council spokesperson said: “Leaseholders must ask permission to make any alterations to the communal area and in this case we did not grant consent for a carpet to be fitted.
“Over the last three years we have rolled out zero tolerance for all our communal areas to be kept clear due to health and safety and fire safety.
“As part of our monthly health and safety block inspections we requested that the carpet was removed to ensure the safety of all residents within the block.
“As the freeholder of the block we do not currently employee any cleaning services but there are plans to implement a mobile caretaker service later on this year.”
