Filthy home of 'hell' tenants is fumigated

[Matthew]

Read the whole dirty story here&#33; (http://www.nfh.org.uk/news/index.php?category=all&id=142) http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif

[Tannasg]

It is quite plain that the poll I caught on the radio re Bristol being the city of worst neighbours in Britain was accurate - it is also obvious that Bristol Council qualify as the worst landlords - I&#39;ve seen little here that I haven&#39;t had to put up with in the seven and a half years I&#39;ve been here - our house was disgusting when we moved in - becaus the council totally ignore - and still do - the inspection for fitness clause in the Homeswap scheme (my son heard a woman in the CAB complaining her flat was jumping with fleas - again, a Homeswap thing) - I have NO recourse as there is no way I can afford the law - and of course, can&#39;t get to court to handle my own case.

I wasn&#39;t able to personally inspect the place - my disability prevented a 1,000 mile round trip - the vidoe of the place we were shown was, we found of a different house (the bathroom in the video was pink - it has since been stripped to plaster in several places - and obviously has never been pink&#33; They used the same type of house - built on a corner like ours, there are two at each road-end - and when my ex came down they had packing cases and out-of-place furniture all over the place - oddly enough precisely where the worst spots were. The lighting was also extremely low wattage - but of course, my ex was too dim to notice that sort of thing. The carpets they were &#39;exchanging&#39; proved to be the old carpets that were laid under the ones they took&#33; - filthy old things full of 50 yrs dirt. I found bits of newspaper that had slipped behind skirting boards (when I ripped the worm eaten bits out - the rafters are also worm eaten, as are stairs and no doubt joists. Why should worms stop dead at the skirting boards???)

We don&#39;t have just one or two NFHs - the whole damn lot are as bad now the only 2 decent families have moved - they were lucky enough to own - but the council won&#39;t do a thing about it. They know full well that we cannot afford to sue - or even withhold rent because of the housing benefit is paid direct. We should at least be able to complain and get that stopped - but of course, ombudsman doesnt deal with individual cases - tho if I could afford a solicitor, this house would come under his remit because of the theft of money and goods that went on while the extension was being built - and the fact that it does not come up to standards. After the building inspector came the once to see the drains, that was it - the rest of the place was left half roofed - there is no protection behind the tiles so the wind howls thru - onto the heating pipes and straight through the loose paper acoustic tiling. - which is why I can never get the temp over 57 even on the mildest day in winter. It is more often nearer 50F - with heating.

To be honest, I read a lot of these stories - ike the &#39;fumigation&#39; one - and think if that is all that they have to deal with, I&#39;d regard it as paradise. "Which problem affects you out of a list?" If more than one, which?
Matthew you really should put a category in - the whole damn lot and more beside&#33;

To top it all, a lot of the problems - like the roof for instance, and the state of the place when we moved in - and the council allowing their tenants to harass others without taking action - are the fault of the council in the first place . . . but a concil tenant is not protected by any estate agent&#39;s &#39;neighbour survey&#39; as obviously the council isn&#39;t going to advertise themselves as corrupt, lazy and self seeking, are they?&#33;

I&#39;m cerrtainly not saying that people who put up with grief from only one bad neighbour or problem don&#39;t suffer - I have lived in situations like that, and I did - but this is a living hell and I spend hours a day wondering what the hell I have done to deserve this&#33;

I know why it can happen though - greed is good&#33; Lazy scrounging crips are of no account&#33;n (as well as being jerks, of course&#33; Not that we have ever actually complained about noise - there would be no point&#33; But since we would complain would it work, we MUST be jerks. The temptation to give them a taste of their own is getting SO strong - particularly as we are equipped for it, equipment and brain-wise - while that lot are not - but it isn&#39;t the way I was brought up and it isn&#39;t the way I&#39;ve brought up my sons.

Seriously though - as we have no way of obtaining legal relief - what is the point of remaining on the moral high ground???

Tannasg