A family forced to move into a temporary home have been left in a property blighted by damp.
The family was moved into the Bedford property by the borough council as they needed to leave their former temporary accommodation for safety reasons.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) was invited to check this property after being contacted by the resident.
Some of the floors were “spongy” and rooms had damp patches, and the soffit at the rear was damaged, which gave birds a clear run into the attic space.
The borough council’s terms and conditions for rental properties as temporary accommodation (Appendix 1) states that the property must be in “sound condition, clean decorative order”.
They add that the property must be “generally free” from mould or damp, and at the time of letting to the council the property must be cleaned to a “reasonable standard”.
The LDRS approached the council for a comment, but it did not provide a definition of what it considers to be “generally free from mould or damp” and “cleaned to a reasonable standard”.
The LDRS also asked for a statement explaining that this isn’t typical of the housing used by the council to temporarily house people and if any other properties rented from the landlord would be checked as a matter of urgency.
A Bedford Borough Council spokesperson said: “We do not comment upon individual cases.
“However, if anyone in council-provided temporary accommodation wishes to make a complaint we will conduct a formal review, including an inspection of the property’s condition, and offer alternative temporary accommodation where appropriate.
“Customers will be made aware of the proper channels to request this.
“Bedford Borough Council is committed to ensuring that all temporary accommodation placements are suitable, and that we fulfil our statutory duties under the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.
“To monitor property conditions, we issue a property condition specification to all providers to ensure that standards are met.
“We are developing a new Dynamic Purchasing System to which property providers must register before any bookings are made.
“At the beginning of the year we recruited two Temporary Accommodation Placement Management Officers, who inspect properties used by the council both within and beyond the borough.”
Shelter
Shelter, a charity that campaigns for tenant rights, does not comment on individual cases.
However, speaking in general terms, Mairi MacRae, director of campaigns, policy & communications, said: “Rocketing private rents and inadequate housing benefit has forced a record number of people into homelessness.
“With so few genuinely affordable social homes available, the pressure on council’s homelessness services for temporary accommodation is at boiling point.
“Through our frontline services we hear from families across the country who are being crammed into emergency hostels and grotty B&Bs, often miles away from their schools and jobs.
“With no independent regulator for this type of housing, much of this accommodation is unsuitable and often unsafe and can lack basic facilities like kitchens or private bathrooms.
“Temporary accommodation is grossly expensive and it’s vital that legal standards are properly enforced.
“But, ultimately, the only way to break the cycle of homelessness for good, is to build a new generation of social homes with rents tied to local incomes – we need 90,000 a year for ten years.”
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
