00:00So Joy, we're just here in Sedgley in your bungalow. What should be, they say
00:06every person's home, every English person's home is a castle. You're not loving
00:10this castle at the minute though are you? Not at all. So this is where you sleep but
00:14just come and take us through to the room next door Joy, because it's a bit
00:19cold in here and it doesn't feel the most cosiest and there's a reason why. It's worse in the depths of winter, it's freezing.
00:25Yeah, well we've been fortunate with the weather haven't we. Yeah, it's like an icebox.
00:29That's the room that's causing the main problem with wet. Right, so we're in a room here and
00:40as we can see, look at this, we've got some temporary covering on a ceiling underneath
00:49a skylight there. Yeah. And these tubes are to catch the water. Yes. I don't know if you can
00:57pick it up, we've got a puddle of water there gathering on the floor. So Joy,
01:01fill us in, how long have you been living here then? Almost, getting on for six months now,
01:07coming up to six months. So there was a delay moving in wasn't there, because the
01:11boiler was leaking, is that right? Yes, antiquated, lavatory was leaking and the
01:18roof, very serious leaks on the roof. And they tried to fix the boiler three times and then came
01:25to the conclusion it needed a new boiler. That's right, yes. Yeah, and obviously when you first
01:31had a look around the place you didn't realise that there was issues with the roof. A quick
01:36view, five minutes straight in and I thought okay, I'll take it, not realising the dreadful issues
01:44that it had. Yeah. Not at all, otherwise I would never have signed up. And you've, just fill us in
01:51on what you've been getting then, you've had mould issues, insects, just fill us in a little bit on
01:55the problems you've had here Joy. Yeah, mould, black spores, wet, infestated with insects I think is a
02:05result of the roof problem. Very stressful, going out to the bedroom it was crumbling away
02:17like the foundations, my brother-in-law had to repair that. Just an ongoing problems,
02:27no peace of mind, a total nightmare for six months of my life which has resulted in my ill health.
02:35I've already got health problems, broken ribs, slip discs in the spine, osteo in the left hip,
02:44fibromyalgia and this has just about put the tin lid on it for me, living here. And you said really
02:53you know with this problem just going on and on and on, you approached the cancer, you said look
02:58just move me, I want to be moved, but what was their response to that? They showed disinterest,
03:04they didn't seem at all overly concerned whatsoever, they just sent somebody around
03:12like a support worker to have a chat with me, thinking that that was going to make things okay.
03:19It was just a lost cause and I was pleading with them on my hands and knees and they just made me
03:27feel I was being a nuisance. Yeah, they said well you've got to live here two years before you can
03:32be considered for a move unless it's an exceptional case. Yes, I don't fit the criteria for a transfer
03:39into something better, more appropriate for my health because I haven't been here two years,
03:45so I feel as if I'm being forced to live in a situation that I find intolerable, unbearable.
03:54I understand they even said well you looked at the property and accepted it but obviously you
03:59didn't come with a set of ladders and climb up the roof at the time did you? Of course not,
04:03of course not and I didn't know that the boiler was over 15 years old, the heating engineer said
04:11and you know it just wasn't fit for purpose, none of it. All it's done, all the property has done
04:18has caused me nothing but stress and anxiety from start to finish and you get to the end of your
04:28tether and you lose all patience until you can't wait to get in bed at night and you dread going up
04:36in the morning and the only way I get respite is to go and stay with my family in Coventry
04:44to get out of the way of it all because it's just to you know get some respite.
04:52You said you've had plenty of people go up on the roof kind of staff come in taking pictures and
04:57saying oh yeah we can see that we can see cracks and stuff but nothing seems to be actually getting
05:02nothing was being done they'd come in and go several times a week oh sweep leaves off say
05:10oh it's cracked and this that and the other but still nothing being done and all the time
05:16you know it was just making me affecting my health impacting on me terribly.
05:21So it's it's left you it's left you feeling kind of tainted about the the whole place hasn't it?
05:26Absolutely I feel discouraged I feel disillusioned my heart's not in it I feel as if I can't paint
05:34and decorate the place and move on and settle and make it a home unless or until the situation
05:43is being resolved. I hate the place I absolutely loathe being here. And Joy we've got next to you
05:50that's that's your that's your freezer. That's my freezer I can't put it where it should be in the
05:56big store room for obvious reasons I've had carrier bags full of all my possessions toiletries
06:04all sorts of things can't put them in there because they were getting wet and full of creepy
06:09crawlies and insects. And there's a section of the roof they had to cut out because it was bowing
06:15wasn't it Joy? Yes.
Comments