A woman living in the Wavertree area of Liverpool has told how she is currently trying to move out of her home and squeeze her family into her mother's house, so she can leave the 'destruction' of the area behind.
The ECHO has been reporting on widespread issues facing long-term residents of the Picton area, who have seen their community torn apart by a huge influx of cramped, shared housing as students have poured into the area in recent years.
Landlords have converted huge numbers of family homes in the area into Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMO), fitting six, seven or even eight people in each. The results have been irreparable for those people who call the area home.
In recent weeks, with students moving out of the area for the summer, Picton has been blighted by rubbish and dumping, bringing more misery for the residents left behind. One woman, who asked not to be named, said she is so fed up with the situation in Picton that she is now planning to move out of the area with her family.
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She said: "We are currently working out how we can squeeze our family into my mum's house, so we can leave the destruction behind. We're devastated. Some of us are struggling mentally with the sheer scale of destruction."
She said she feels much of the blame lies with landlords, builders and the city council, who she claims 'don't give a toss' about the community. Speaking about the council specifically, she said: "If they had listened to the majority of residents from the start and taken robust, affirmative action, we would not still be seeing family homes, street after street, being gutted daily and crude dormer extensions blocking the little sunlight we have after a day’s work."
She added: "The sheer noise from this alone is a constant disturbance, which feels ten times worse when you have to work from home. We would not still be saying heart-breaking goodbyes to valued long term members of our community who are continually being forced out as a result.
"We would not be experiencing yet more of the negative impact that we already know HMO’s have on every street, including excess waste, excess vehicle count & pollution, excess noise and often anti social behaviour, the list goes on."
The mother said it has been 'devastating' to see 'the remaining pockets of a once mixed tenure community give way to an HMO enclave for the benefit of students and landlords and to the detriment of thousands of families and permanent residents."
She added: "Landlords from across the UK are still buying up homes here, forcing families out and cracking on with their lucrative plans for the next HMO to litter Picton ward. They care little of the surrounding impact and even less, it seems, of planning regulations."
"As I type, yet another roof is being hacked off another property in close proximity and the noise is so excessive, I have had to cancel work and Zoom meetings with clients for the entire day due to the disruption. This is a common occurrence, the reality of which has meant the difference between being able to pay our bills and relying on outside help.
Her comments were backed up by the Lawrence Residents Action Group, who in a statement said: "The situation across Picton is dire and long past the tipping point, even objecting to those that do bother to make planning applications, is itself, a full time endeavour that should never have been the constant responsibility of the residents.
"The stipulation within the LCC Local Area Plan, of no more than 10% of HMO’s in the area, has long been exceeded and continues like a runaway train. Each September, as the next student cohort arrive, we brace ourselves for yet more cars, more fumes, more noise and more waste on our streets. Each June, we brace ourselves for the mess that many leave behind. When we see such abundance and waste, against a backdrop of need & neglect, it highlights the disparities and the harsh realities of living here."
Some efforts have been made in recent years to tackle some of the issues facing long-term residents in the area. A rise in anti-social behaviour last summer saw the council, universities and police take a multi-agency approach, which included knocking on the doors of problem houses and delivering strict warnings about possible evictions. But for some living in this area the damage was done a good while ago.
Speaking about the ongoing problems, Picton ward councillor and city council cabinet member for neighbourhoods, Abdul Qadir said: “Some of the issues relating to students leaving the city for summer have been disappointing to see. I know in Picton this week, the ward councillors helped fund the provision of 36 skips to mitigate the impact of the volume of waste generated by students decanting from their accommodation and for local residents to dispose of their unwanted items.
“The city council has been working as part of a multi-agency approach with the universities, councillors and MPs in the affected wards over the last year, and it's vital we all continue to collaborate and communicate. As an example the council recently distributed letters and worked with the universities to stress the importance to students of leaving Liverpool and the community they live in in a tidy manner."
Cllr Qadir said it is a 'source of frustration' that not everyone has adhered to those calls and made life 'uncomfortable' for those living in the area. He added: "What has become clear is not every landlord appears to take responsibility to help the students dispose of their rubbish properly, either by sharing details of the skips or simply helping them. That is something we are going to address with the universities support.
“On the issue of waste management I’ve instructed officers to review and strengthen plans on prevention and enforcement to ensure we tackle the recent issues more robustly. The council will also be talking to the universities to explore how we can improve communications with landlords and students to ensure the impact of this annual summer scenario is lessened.
“The council takes the management of waste extremely seriously, which is why we’ve recently announced a partnership with Keep Britain Tidy and is about to consult on installing a network of subterranean super-bins. The current status quo is not acceptable. Improvements need to be made – and they will. But the council cannot do this alone. Waste is an issue that everyone can play a part in – by reducing, reusing and recycling.”
Cllr Qadir admitted that the volume of HMOs in the area remains a concern, but added: "Since June last year the council adopted Article 4 which forces anyone looking to convert a house into a bedsit to make a planning application, and each one to date has been refused."
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