Sheffield flats residents complain of rats, mice, damp and mould – “We have had enough”

An online petition to the council started by Verdon Street resident Akra Shaibi and signed by six neighbours said: “I am doing this petition for my flat and on behalf of my neighbours. We have had enough of rats and mice running around in our flats and eating our furniture, food and clothes.

“We have used so much poison, mice traps and mice stickers but they always come back. If one flat has mice/rats all the other flats get them. We kill around five mice/rats a week. There are always dead rats on the road and paths.

“We have spent so much money on cleaning products for all the mould and dehumidifiers. The mould is in our wardrobes and is making us smell. Our flats smell as well.

“We redecorate nearly every year because of the damage from the damp and mould. We can’t open our windows to ventilate because rats and mice come in the flats from the windows and doors as well.”

The petition was discussed at a meeting of the council’s housing policy committee (December 14). The committee was told that the north east housing team is carrying out a full external survey of the five blocks, each of which has 20 flats.

It is working with the repairs service to ensure that the entry points for pests are blocked.

Work has taken place on damp and mould in 38 properties so far. Longer-term work is also being commissioned.

All residents are being contacted to be told what is happening.

Coun Penny Baker said: “Members are automatically thinking ‘we’ve got 100 flats, all with damp and mould in one area – why, how, why we’ve got to this state’. It is not acceptable.

“They have a design that would help generate damp and mould in the flats. We would expect the area housing team to know there was a problem there, to highlight it and not let it get to this sort of stage where we’re getting this sort of information at a housing meeting.

“I’d like to know as quickly as possible I appreciate the work done. I want to know how the heck we’ve got into this situation.”

Committee chair Coun Douglas Johnson said that rats and mice “are a fairly widespread problem across a lot of estates. It’s a fairly hard thing to eradicate so there’s a lot of intense work going on”.

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Coun Sioned-Mair Richards said: “It’s quite sad that this has to come to committee with a petition for us to be undertaking work on it and it smacks to me of people thinking ‘I’m not going to get something done unless I go right to the top’ and that shouldn’t be happening, it should be part of our everyday work.”

Director of operation services Tom Smith said that type of property is prone to damp and mould. He said: “We have been working for a quite significant amount of time on damp and mould – 40 to 50 properties have had work in the past year.”

He said that the cost-of-living crisis means some tenants cannot afford to put on their heating, making the issue worse, so the council is supporting them to afford to heat their homes.

Head of housing Janet Sharpe said that the council is putting together a pest prevention strategy to tackle increasing infestations.