Caribbean and African Health Network - Enforcement of housing standards

People’s Health Trust’s Homes for Health programme is working with projects that respond to the growing problem of unfit private and social rented homes and their effects on tenants’ physical and mental health. At the centre of the work are people experiencing marginalisation, whose intersecting identities make them more likely to be affected. In this second part of our interview with Caribbean and African Health Network (CAHN) member Augustina, she speaks about the unfit conditions in her previous home in Manchester, and the important role of the local council in enforcing housing standards.

“One of the issues with our old home was a leak from the bathroom, above the kitchen, which turned the kitchen ceiling brown. We told the landlord and he didn’t take it seriously, nor did he take it seriously when the ceiling started to crack. He was requesting a rent rise at that time and we were not prepared to pay him the extra money so he ignored us.

The ceiling cracked completely and a portion of it fell on our dining table, where our children usually sat eating their meals or where we spend a most of our family time. Luckily for us the children were at school when the ceiling fell in. Just imagine if the children had been sitting there. We were so lucky

We had to call the police in and we let the landlord know that we’d told them it was not safe to live in the conditions. Only then, when the police were involved, did he rush round to the house. He didn’t hire professionals to fix the problem; he tried to fix things himself and we were left with a hole in our kitchen ceiling which when all the way through to the bathroom.

We were arguing with him a lot and this is when the council came out to inspect the home. They were not happy at all. Aside from the hole in the kitchen ceiling, there were many other problems. The fire alarms were not working, there was damp and mould in a lot of areas, there were mice, the kitchen floor was falling apart.

I don’t know how far the council pushed him, but they made it look serious. They told him he had to pay a penalty because the condition of the house was so bad. After that he asked us if we reported him to the council. We said no, we had not. They had just come for a check. He panicked then. He knew he wasn’t prepared to do the work and the repairs the council were asking of him.

He told the council he couldn’t afford to do the repairs but because they were insisting, he started to get some of the work done. The kitchen got repaired to show to the council that work was being done. He could have made those repairs at any time we were living there but it was only when the council approached him and pushed him that he started to improve the house.

It was not long after this that we left the house. The landlord told us his plan was to make some of the required repairs and then sell the house. We couldn’t be there any longer so we decided to leave. I feel much happier now that we have moved.

It is important that the council do regular checks on landlords to make sure people are safe. I’m from an ethnic minority group and sometimes it is hard for us to come forward with issues like housing. You don’t know where to take your problem. You don’t know where to report it. So when the council came in we thought now we have a voice. The work that CAHN and People’s Health Trust are doing right now, is going to create more awareness for people to know that there is a way for tenants – who pay good money – to be represented and supported.

With rents going up, the houses also must be up to standard. You can’t just increase your rent by saying ‘oh you live in the city and rents are going up so yours is too,’ when conditions in the house are so bad and not improving. Repairs must be made and standards must be checked and monitored all the time.”

People’s Health Trust is calling on government to provide councils with dedicated resources to enforce decent housing conditions in the private rented sector, so that conditions in people’s homes support people’s health rather than harms it. Find out more