Residents ‘living in hell’ in mouldy council flats in Stansted as councillors accuse Uttlesford District Council of neglecting tenants
Vulnerable tenants living in mouldy council flats in Stansted have been suffering for years because of Uttlesford District Council’s (UDC) failure to act sooner, concerned councillors claim.
The plight of residents in Manor Road on the Mountfitchet estate had been “disgracefully dismissed” by the authority, they said, which had failed in its duty as a social landlord to ensure maintenance commitments were carried out by its external contractors.
One flat leaseholder accused UDC of “washings its hands” of the situation and is now taking legal action under Section 82 of the 2004 Housing Act, used to address housing disrepairs, which he claimed had gone unresolved, despite promises of work being carried out.
“I’ve had enough and so am prosecuting and want to terminate the lease because I’ve had enough of 10 years of trying to sort this out,” said Ben Deane-Bowers. “And it’s not just me, there’s another leaseholder who’s had enough.
“The maisonettes were built in the ‘50s and were identified as a risk about 20 years ago, and Uttlesford hasn’t done anything significant to improve them. They sent people out to inspect them, but we’ve never been told the results – it’s disgraceful.
“My tenants have been living in hell for two years. There’s a 14-year-old living there with mould all over the ceiling from water ingress, and children in other flats have developed asthma.”
Mr Deane-Bowers accused the Residents for Uttlesford-led administration of paving the way for new homes while repairs for existing council properties had fallen behind.
“Uttlesford should be finding out which of its 150 properties are really bad and uninhabitable, mothball those and come up with a plan. They came to inspect my property but never came back to me and I’m none the wiser, yet I get blamed for being difficult – it’s shocking.”
Cllr Ray Gooding, a Conservative who represents Stansted South and Birchanger, has taken up the fight on behalf of tenants and leaseholders and said he had visited the flats to see first hand the extent of the mould, which he described as “appalling”.
He said leaseholders could only do so much to keep properties mould-free because the fabric of the building was failing.
He tabled a motion to UDC’s full council on July 18 calling for immediate action to resolve the issues and rehouse those living in “unsatisfactory and unhealthy conditions”, but it was defeated on the chair’s casting vote.
Said Cllr Gooding: “These flats have been a problem for a very long time and now things have come to a head. It’s a matter of money to rehouse people, but that’s what should happen.
“Uttlesford are the superior landlord and it’s their responsibility to make sure water isn’t pouring in. These properties aren’t fit for habitation and often have vulnerable tenants who are unlikely to make a fuss.”
He criticised UDC’s portfolio holder for housing and equalities, Cllr Arthur Coote, for dismissing the issue, along with other R4U members.
“The response from R4U members was derisory and the comments from their members included such statements as ‘there’s no point in clearing the mould, it will only come back’.
“Clearly, the R4U administration has no concern for the health and wellbeing of the vulnerable residents for whom they are responsible.”
The motion made reference to Awab’s Law, which, whilst currently not formally adopted onto statute, refers to the death of a two-year-old child, Awab Ishak, as a result of excessive mould in a Rochdale property owned by a housing association.
Stansted Parish Council has written to Cllr Coote asking that he attend its next meeting on September 4 to answer concerns. It has asked for maintenance records for the properties for the last five years and details of how UDC intends to address the issue.
Cllr Coote is currently on leave, but told the Indie he would be happy to discuss the issue on his return and offered details of Uttlesford’s planned works for the flats.
A members’ briefing statement details 20 flats – 11 housing council tenants and nine leasehold properties – affected with a planned programme of repairs to leaking balconies and roofs scheduled to be completed by March 2025 at a cost of £770,000.
It said the first phase to flats 37 and 39 had already started and detailed remedial work that had been carried out over the past few years, such as anti-microbial treatments.
Originally this report said that the Rochdale property mentioned was owned by the borough council. This was incorrect.