A family of six were left living in a leaking, damp flat without electricity, heating or lights during the depths of winter because Birmingham City Council failed on multiple occasions to carry out vital repairs. The tenants believe they were treated so poorly because of their skin colour.
At one point one of the family’s four children became ill as a result of the damp and mould in the ground floor flat; and their mother was hospitalised as a result of the living conditions. The father of the family said the situation had been ‘terrible’ and condemned the council’s inaction.
Speaking to BirminghamLive, he said: “My son’s eczema worsened through this time and my wife ended up in hospital last winter with breathing problems because of the damp and mould.” The council has now been ordered to reimburse more than £1,260 paid in rent during the worst living conditions, and pay compensation of £1,700 to mark the significant distress the family endured, which amounted to ‘severe maladministration’. New council chief executive Joanne Roney has also been ordered to apologise personally for the failings of the council.
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The council said it has apologised for the distress caused and that it was seeking to improve the speed and quality of its response to concerns raised by tenants.
The Housing Ombudsman, who investigates complaints about landlords, detailed the shocking failings in his report into the council’s handling of concerns raised by the tenants, who had been living in the three-storey maisonette close to the city centre for several years.
They had experienced a persistent leak coming from two of the flats above them in spring 2023 – one council-owned, one leased privately – and complained first to their local councillor about that and the severe damp and mould they were experiencing.
Six weeks later the family had a first visit from the council who identified a leak from the flat above but also claimed the family’s ‘lifestyle’ was contributing to the damp and mould. The ombudsman’s report later condemned the council for victim blaming, saying it was ‘troubling’ that they did so.
Over the following three months, the father informed the council his son was increasingly unwell because of the damp and mould affecting his eczema, yet his request for the family to be relocated to temporary accommodation while the problems were fixed was ignored. The family’s city councillor also failed on two occasions to share updates on the complaint with the family, so they were kept in the dark.
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Only after the family involved Ladywood MP Shabana Mahmood was significant action taken. The family said her intervention had been ‘very helpful, it was so good to have support and help.’ The Housing Ombudsman was also alerted.
During an inspection visit in October 2023, contractors had to cap the boiler and disconnect the main fuse box after discovering water still coming through the ceiling. That left the family without full heating, light or electricity – a problem that was not fully resolved until January 2024. They were expected to stay in the property all that time. Temporary heating was provided for some of the time.
The block of flats where the family suffered dire conditions
The report said: “On December 8, 2023, the resident informed the landlord his wife had been hospitalised due to the poor conditions in his property. He accused the landlord of neglecting his living conditions because of his race and stated he would withhold his rent to cover hotel costs for his family while his property lacked heating and hot water.
“On January 3, 2024, the landlord replaced the resident’s boiler, restoring his heating and hot water services. However, the resident continued to experience a leak in his property until June 2024.”
The ombudsman said it could not investigate or comment on the claim of racial discrimination, nor could it address the family’s claims the council’s failure to act had caused personal harm to the son and mother, as those were legal issues the family would need to pursue elsewhere.
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However, the report listed multiple failings that exacerbated the conditions in the flat and worsened the family’s experience. These included that the council:
- failed to investigate properly the original concerns of leaks from two flats above
- left a family living in a property with ‘serious electrical hazards’ which, though quickly made safe, were not subsequently inspected thoroughly or acted upon. “Consequently, the residents were left to rely on temporary lighting solutions, and lived with an ongoing leak, understandably causing considerable distress, inconvenience, and disruption to daily life.”
- did not go far enough to fully investigate and address the root cause of the leak, “thereby failing to uphold its responsibilities to maintain the resident’s property and protect the resident’s living conditions,” said the report.
- failed to provide the resident with temporary accommodation despite ‘the winter period, the unresolved identification of the leak’s source, and a child living in the property with eczema, which may have been aggravated by the living conditions.’ The report added: “We have seen no evidence the landlord considered these factors or acknowledged the resident’s repeated requests for assistance, demonstrating a failure by the landlord to show due regard to the health and well-being of the resident and the vulnerabilities in his household.”
- when the resident informed the council his wife had been hospitalised due to their living conditions (and) expressed his belief the landlord’s poor treatment toward him was due to his race….the council did not address the resident’s claims or acknowledge his wife’s health, which was both inappropriate and lacking in empathy….by failing to do so, the landlord likely exacerbated the resident’s distress, and further eroded the resident’s trust in the landlord’s ability to handle his situation fairly and provide adequate support during a challenging and sensitive time.”
- failed to properly pursue the leaseholder in one of the leaking flats to carry out repairs with any urgency
In response, Councillor Jayne Francis, Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness, said: “The council accepts the findings of the Housing Ombudsman in (this) case and has apologised to the affected tenant for the unacceptable service they have received and the time it has taken for us to resolve their issues. The council carries out more than 250,000 repairs per year across a housing stock of almost 60,000 properties and we know that unfortunately not all tenants receive the level of service that they deserve, or that we seek to provide. Where we get things wrong, we seek to resolve our faults as soon as possible and ensure that the tenant is properly compensated to reflect any distress and inconvenience caused.
“In (this) case, whilst we have failed to resolve the repair issues in a reasonable time, we have carried out further works to ensure that the issues are resolved and have complied fully with the orders made by the Housing Ombudsman to ensure that the issues are resolved. Since January 2023, when the Housing Ombudsman published its special report into the Council’s handling of housing repairs, complaints and record keeping, we have carried out significant improvements across our service to address the faults raised and ensure that our tenants receive a high-quality service. Whilst this improvement journey is ongoing, we accept that we will continue to see instances such as these where our historical performance was not of the level that our tenants can expect from us today and we apologise to the affected tenants for our poor performance in responding to their concerns.”