A mum-of-four claims she is ‘stuck’ in a tiny two bedroom flat at a tower block ‘rife’ with parties, drug use and drunkenness.
33-year-old Louise Bennet has spent the past four years living with her teenager and three young kids at Ratcliffe Towers in Stockport, which she has described as a ‘party block’ that is ‘no place for children’. She said their lives have been made ‘hell’ by the ‘awful’ conditions in the ‘tiny’ apartment.
Louise, a radiology student, is mum to a 15-year-old daughter, a four-year-old girl and two one-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. She moved into the flat on the outskirts of Stockport town centre with her kids in January 2021.
Louise, who was working at the time, was renting privately, however she was made homeless when she was made redundant from her job as an office manager. In order to save up for a deposit for a new place, Louise spent time living with her mum. However, when the Covid pandemic hit, she struggled to find a new job and had to approach her local authority for help with housing.
At this point, Louise, from nearby Heaviley, only had two children. She claims she was told by Stockport Homes, which manages properties on behalf of Stockport Council, that she could be moved from the two-bedroom flat after 12 months. However, she said that in reality, “now I’m here, I’m stuck here”.
After moving in, she gave birth to her twins, meaning there are now five of them in the flat. To make sure her 15-year-old gets the best night’s sleep possible before school, Louise and her three other kids, who still wake through the night, have to sleep on four separate beds in the other bedroom, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Louise said she began noticing and reporting alleged issues at the block “almost as soon as I moved in”. She claims she has repeatedly found drug paraphernalia in both communal areas and on the area immediately outside the entrance, whilst neighbours have reported finding used needles to the rear of the block and the park next to it, the Mottram Street Playground.
Louise said on one occasion her daughter went to pick up an item she described as a ‘crack pipe’ in the hallway of her block, facing the lift. She said: “It’s just disgusting. But it’s not just that. Empty little bags, pipes, other stuff, you find them everywhere, especially outside as people are throwing them out of their windows.”
On one occasion, she said, a drunk man stumbled into her flat by mistake after she forgot to lock the door. Whilst she says she has ‘regularly’ found people, she suspected to be under the influence, sleeping in the corridors.
“One time a woman was being treated on the grass outside after an overdose” she said. Then one morning last October, as she took her kids to school, she found the walls and floor of a corridor splattered with blood, leading to a large pool of blood in the foyer. Stockport Homes says a specialist contractor was brought in to clean the corridor after what it described as an ‘isolated incident involving an injured individual’.
“There’s people coming in and out constantly, loud music, shouting, arguing. The police are here all the time. There’s often spit and wee in the lifts. It’s a party block basically. It’s no place for children or families,” she said. Stockport Homes said it would ‘not tolerate’ the behaviour she has described and it had ‘taken action to reduce anti-social behaviour.’
“My 15 year-old won’t go out of the flat on her own” Louise continued. “There are other kids that live here, and they sometimes play out on the corridors but I won’t let mine do that. It’s awful. It’s not safe. I do feel scared living here.”
“It’s embarrassing” she added. “I never want to have anyone round. And it makes you feel like a bad parent as well, because you can’t physically get them out of it. But I just don’t think they are really that bothered.”
Louise said she has complained ‘countless’ times to Stockport Homes about the issues and has also repeatedly asked to be moved, both due to the issues and the size of the flat. She also has safety concerns as she lives on the fifth floor and said the windows open ‘wide’ and her children are now able to climb up onto the windowsill.
However, she has been told she would have to use the official bidding process to move, unless she was a victim of domestic violence, or her family have been threatened or were ‘at risk.’ She claims she has been advised this could take seven to eight years to move she has been told given the current social housing situation in the borough. Stockport Homes said the demand for housing meant each property could be let ‘many times over.’
“I’ve been told I have as many points as I’m entitled to, so essentially the flat is adequate for me. As it’s been explained to me, they only class a child as a full child when they are nine, as before that they can share a bedroom. So in their eyes I only have two and a half children. And they class the living room as a bedroom where someone can sleep.
“I would privately rent if I could” said Louise, who is currently studying at college in a bid to become a radiologist. “But its not just the rent and the insecure tenancies, it is all the up front costs, the deposit and all the stuff you’d need. Some people just aren’t in the situation to be able to do that.”
A spokesperson for Stockport Homes said: “We take the safety and well-being of our residents very seriously. Everyone should be able to live in their home without fear or distress, and we are committed to ensuring that Ratcliffe Towers remains a safe and comfortable place to live. We have taken action to tackle anti-social behaviour such as closure orders and an injunction and will not tolerate the type of behaviour Ms Bennett describes. We understand Ms. Bennett’s distress and appreciate that she wishes to move. We will continue to provide support as she considers her options but, unfortunately, the demand for housing means that suitable properties could be let many times over. “
