A family is facing eviction from their home after they say a catalogue of unresolved issues with their 'nightmare' flat has left them with no option but to withhold their rent. In desperation, the couple, who live in the accommodation with their three young children, made the rent refusal after they say serious problems with their home had not been fixed after two years.
Kate, 29, a full-time mum to her eight-year-old, one-year-old, and three-month-old sons, and her partner Jason, 49, a tattoo artist, say they moved to the one-bedroom flat in Tamworth Road, Long Eaton, for security reasons in February 2021. They told Nottinghamshire Live sister publication Derbyshire Live the issues with the property are so bad they can only wash at the children's grandparents' house.
The couple says there is a broken shower - forcing them to wash at Jason's parents' house - broken floorboards, and a heavy cupboard that fell from the kitchen wall, which Kate claims nearly seriously injured her and one of her children. The list of issues continued as the couple explained there was a broken heater as well as ill-fitted windows.
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The family moved to the flat after they were burgled at their three-bedroom house in Matlock. They have decided not to provide their full identities after their traumatic experience for their own protection. Kate said: "We went from a three-bedroom house to this one-bedroom flat".
Attempting to take matters into their own hands, the couple claims they have applied for a grant to fix their defective heater, as well as purchasing a new kitchen sink as their current one has a blockage they cannot shift.
Kate said: "We have applied for a grant to fix the heater, but when people came from London to fix it, they told us we can’t touch the existing heater as heaters shouldn’t be in the bathroom and we'd be liable.
"The drain blockage we have, we've tried to bail it out. The smell, it’s terrible, like a sulphur smell. We've done everything we can do, everything that was allowed to be done domestically without shoving something down it. It's still not sorted out. We bought a new sink but they wouldn’t let us put it all in."
She continued: "It's been two years and it's been rubbish. I can also smell burning rubber behind the shower, and the shower itself is from a caravan. We are having to go round to Jason's parents' three or four times a week and give them some money for the water, it’s not cheap. The fact I can’t go a run a bath for my baby... it’s those little things. The whole kitchen cupboard also just fell forward, and my stepson was cooking bacon, I was at the sink. I was just shouting 'Jay'!'"
"She's point blank refused, the landlord. We said we’d pay it because we’ve got three kids, and my partner suffers from anxiety because of the burglary. On top of that, we have to go to our mum and dad’s house to bathe our children, we have to strip wash here. They're pensioners, they can't afford their energy this year. We have no gas in the flat, the water boiler overheats and gets really hot.
"There's also a pile of rubbish in the car park we had to take out ourselves when we first moved in, settees and fridge freezers from last tenant. It's causing rodents, rats and mice."
Jason added: "It’s been a nightmare. We’ve had to (put) pads under the floor just so we can walk on it and put a bar on the front window - if that wasn’t there it would fall out. The electric here in winter will be 10 to 12 pounds a day. We're having to use heat retainers on the doors and windows to keep heat in."
Kate and Jason have decided to withhold five rent instalments (£2,000) from their landlord as some faults with the flat remain unrectified. They were therefore issued a Section 21 eviction notice on Tuesday, October 11 and two months' notice before the property is repossessed.
Osama Bhutta, Director of Campaigns at Shelter, said: “Renters have had a rotten deal for years. Thousands of people are putting up with damp, mouldy and dangerous conditions because they’re scared that if they complain they’ll be evicted.
“Our emergency helpline is being flooded with calls from people who are terrified about losing their homes just as the cost-of-living crisis bites. While our advisers are working tirelessly to challenge unfair evictions, if landlords have followed the process, they can currently kick people out of their homes for no reason at all.
“New laws are long overdue to make renting fairer. The Government must deliver on its promise to introduce a Renters’ Reform Bill that scraps Section 21 no-fault evictions and introduces a Decent Homes Standard and a national landlord register. It’s the only way to give renters security in their home and drive-up standards by making it easier for local authorities to crack down on bad landlords.”
Derbyshire Live has contacted the landlord who did not wish to comment.
Kate and Jason have set up a Just Giving page. Click here if you wish to donate.
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