Sheffield Council housing: Tenant with no bath not moved because it's 'too late' despite promise

Rebecca Wallace says has been asking the council for help with her damp-ridden council home on Buchanan Road, Parson Cross, for roughly two and a half years, and most recently was told she’d be without basic washing facilities until October 5, 2022.

A bath was due to have been installed earlier this week but council workers arrived without everything needed for the job.

She claims leaks in her bathroom led to the hallway ceiling underneath recently collapsing.

Her bathroom floorboards are also said to be severely damp.

In response, Councillor Douglas Johnson said on Friday: “This is obviously too long for any tenant to be without functioning facilities at home and we are therefore working hard to get a bath in place by the end of Friday 30th September. If this cannot be achieved, we will look to arrange a temporary stay at a local hotel for Ms Wallace and her family while the works are completed.”

Miss Wallace claims she has since been told her bath won’t be in place until Monday.

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When The Star asked Sheffield City Council if Miss Wallace and her eight-year-old daughter would be offered temporary accommodation, Tom Smith, Director of Direct Services, said: “Providing warm, safe and good quality homes for our residents is essential and we are working closely with Ms Wallace to get her bathroom fixed and ready to use as soon as possible. Our repair team started on site on the 28th of September and works are now underway.

“Unfortunately, the repairs will take a little longer to complete than we originally thought, and Ms Wallace has also asked us to change the wet room to a standard bathroom. This means that the work is likely to now take until 5th of October to complete.”

The council also said they had offered Miss Wallace alternative arrangements, which she rejected, as she said they only offered her accommodation until today, meaning she would not have been able to wash before she goes back to her job as a carer next week.

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Miss Wallace said: “They said we couldn’t be put in a hotel because it was too late, but if I wanted it I could sort it myself and be reimbursed.”

She added with costs spiraling, spending her own money for temporary accommodation is not going to be possible, even if it was eventually reimbursed.

The Star has contacted Councillor Johnson again and he claimed to have little idea what had happened in Miss Wallace’s case over the weekend but agreed the mum and daughter pair should be moved somewhere with the necessary facilities.

The council has been asked to respond.