A Places for People tenant says she has reached breaking point after years of trying to resolve ongoing issues of mould, damp, a leaking pipe and a rotten patio door. She claims her bedclothes, curtains and clothes have become mouldy despite her best efforts to keep her flat in a good condition.
Prior to lockdown, work was done on the property to resolve the issues of damp and mould. Tracey Lindo was relieved, believing the issues had finally been resolved but shortly after decorating, she says the black mould had returned and despite keeping the place clean, the smell has now become intolerable.
Ms Lindo has been in contact with her GP because she says the state of the property is having a big impact on her mental health. Places for People has apologised and said more repair work will take place.
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Ms Lindo said: “I’m depressed over it, it’s traumatic because I want to get things done but they’re not doing anything. I feel that they’ve just let me down really badly, I pay my full rent and if it was the other way round and I neglected the place, I think I’d be out on the streets. It’s been a nightmare, people say, ‘you’ve got to keep on at them’, but how long can I go on for?
“I’ve contacted everyone and I’ve done everything I should do but they’re not listening to me at all, I can’t keep living like this. All I want is to come home from work and relax and for the place to look nice.”
After years of complaining about damp and mould in the property without any progress, Ms Lindo got in touch with Environmental Health. After a surveyor came to the property, Places for People put installation in her bedroom in 2019.
At this point, Ms Lindo was relieved, she believed that finally the worst of her problems had been resolved. She decided to repaint the flat and fit new curtains in her bedroom, now the mould has returned and is spreading throughout the property.
Ms Lindo said: “In the bedroom it just started off as little droplets, eventually it got worse and the black mould just spread right across. In the bathroom there is a leak coming from one of the pipes and the laminate flooring is black.
“It’s made all my clothes mouldy, my bedding and carpet just smells in there. I can’t buy anything nice for the bedroom, I don’t want to ruin another pair of curtains.”
Although the property management company sent an electrician last month to look at the damp, there has yet to be any progress on removing the mould. Meanwhile, Ms Lindo says she feels completely “let down” after taking several days off work only to find appointments being cancelled at the last minute.
Ms Lindo added: “I’ve just been let down by them and they’ve cancelled appointments when I really needed things done. I wasted time taking days off work and I had to sleep on the sofa at one point because it was so bad in my bedroom.
“They’ve come around a few times to measure the patio door for not reason. The whole frame is rotten at the bottom, it lets in a draft and I get slugs in my living room, big fat ones sometimes, it’s horrible.”
This is not the first time, Places for People; a private company which rents and sells properties across the country, has come under fire. In 2018 a single mum in Bristol found her roof cave in while staying in a Places for People property in St Werburghs , despite having complained to the company’s maintenance department over 30 times.
In 2020, Social Action Housing Campaign reported that the former Housing Association had lost a court battle over the eviction of a young mum who had fallen into rent arrears as a result of mental health problems. In Bristol, despite being considered as one of the council’s “key affordable homes providers” they are currently developing 350 homes in St Pauls of which only 20 percent will be affordable.
Places for People was formed out of The North British Housing Association, which was set up in 1965 and renamed in 1999 after joining with Bristol Churches Housing Association. The limited company had a turnover of £816.5 million in 2021 .
A spokesperson for Places for People said: “We are sorry for the condition of our customer’s home. We aim to provide homes and neighbourhoods which are safe and welcoming for our customers and communities and have been working with the customer to resolve these issues.
"We have further repair works scheduled for June and August and have contacted the customer to confirm these dates.”
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