Tuesday, 19 March 2024

Housing

David HODGETT (Croydon) (16:12): I rise today to speak on the alarming amount of calls my office has received in the last six months from public housing tenants who have been waiting an excessive amount of time for repairs or maintenance to be carried out on their properties. One tenant has experienced several maintenance issues after the many years she has lived there, with the most recent matter involving a shower that has tiles falling off the walls, making it no longer waterproof. Water has leaked into the joining walls. Mould is now growing in her wardrobe. She has contacted the department on many occasions, as has my office, and these repairs are no closer to being addressed. My constituent has many health issues which are only being exacerbated by the mould.

Another constituent had her bath removed due to a fault with the plumbing, leaving her with a shower which she cannot use due to the same plumbing issues and which floods the bathroom. It has now been three weeks since this elderly constituent has been able to shower herself.

We have heard from tenants that have kitchen and cupboard doors falling off, carpets separating from underlay, lino peeling off kitchen floors, mould in bedrooms and bathrooms due to poor ventilation and heaters that have been disconnected and not replaced – the list goes on and on. These are a minuscule example of the issues that have been raised, and they are completely unacceptable.

The government has a responsibility out of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 to carry out urgent repairs within 24 hours of being notified and non-urgent repairs within 14 days. Some tenants are waiting years and being treated as second-class citizens. The government has a responsibility as the landlord to fix these issues. I would be happy to provide names if necessary.