ANGER OF FLOOD-HIT RESIDENTS: 'WE'RE FORCED TO LIVE IN
SQUALOR'
08:00 - 25 September 2007
Angry residents on a city housing scheme say they have been
forced to live in squalor since the June floods.
They are all tenants of London-based housing association Habinteg, which
specialises in supplying homes to people with disabilities.
The residents said they have been let down by the company, which has not done
enough to repair the damaged properties.
Jack
Wright, 55, of Park Road, near Pearson Park Primary School in west Hull, lives
in one of the affected properties.
He suffers from osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, migraines and asthma.
He said: "I have no tiles on my floor, just concrete and it's damp. We're forced
to live in this squalor and have been since the first day of the floods. I'm fed
up with it. My asthma is playing up.
"I didn't get any support from the association. They didn't even come when it
happened to see if I was all right.
"They're supposed to be a caring association. How can they be when they make us
live like this?
"They say they are getting properties to move us into. How long will it be
before they actually start the work?"
Liz and Mike Walker said their house in Barrow Court is covered in mould due to
the damp.
Liz, 36, described the properties as uninhabitable and fears it may be years
before they are returned to their former condition.
She said: "They said they would move people out on a phased basis of five or six
houses at a time for three months.
"Now they said four months. That means they could take up to two-and-half-years
to finish the work.
"People have just had enough of it. They don't want to live like this anymore."
Mike, 44, who suffers with arthritis and breathing difficulties, said he was
extremely frustrated by the situation.
He said: "It's considered a disabled housing association.
"You would expect them to understand.
"It's not just about us, I'm concerned for everyone on the estate."
Paul Gamble, deputy chief executive of Habinteg, said the company was doing all
it could to support residents.
He said he realised living in the properties was not pleasant, but maintained
the company's position that they were habitable.
Mr Gamble said the company now had properties to move tenants into while work on
the damaged houses was carried out and they would start moving tenants out soon.
He said: "Flooding takes a terribly long time to sort out. We have a major
programme of repairs planned and we will get it done as fast as we can.
"We will look at it as an opportunity to improve the properties."
n.glaves@mailnewsmedia.co.uk