Louise Bennett, a mother of four, claims she is trapped in a cramped two-bedroom flat at Ratcliffe Towers in Stockport, plagued by drug use, drunkenness, and safety concerns. She says the conditions are 'awful' and 'no place for children,' and despite repeated complaints to Stockport Homes, she has been told it could take seven to eight years to be rehoused.
A mother of four is trapped in a cramped two-bedroom flat at a tower block plagued by drug use and drunkenness. Louise Bennett, 33, has been living with her teenager and three young children at Ratcliffe Towers in Stockport for the past four years. But she says their lives are being made a 'hell' by the 'awful' conditions at the 'tiny' apartment in the 'party block' which is 'no place for children.
' Radiology student Louise, who has a 15-year-old daughter, a four-year-old girl and two-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, moved into the block, nestled between Higher Hillgate and the A6 on the outskirts of the town centre, in January 2021. Louise, who at the time was working, was privately renting but was made homeless when she was made redundant from her job as an office manager. She spent time living with her mum in order to save up for a deposit for a new place, until the pandemic hit, which meant she was unable to find a new job and had to approach the local authority to house her. Louise, from nearby Heaviley, who only had two children at this point, claims she was told by Stockport Homes, who manage properties on behalf of Stockport Council, that she could be moved from the two-bedroom flat after 12 months. However, that in reality, 'now I'm here, I'm stuck here.' After moving in she gave birth to her twins. To ensure her 15-year-old has any sleep before school, she and her three other children, who still often wake in the night, have to sleep on four separate beds in the other bedroom. And she began noticing and reporting the 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, called 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. 'It's just disgusting,' she said. '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,' she said. '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.' Stockport Homes say they will 'not tolerate' the behaviour she has described and they have '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 says the windows open 'wide' and her children are now able to climb up onto the windowsill. However, she has been told she will have to use the official bidding process to move, unless she is a victim of domestic violence or her family have been threatened or '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 its 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
SOCIAL HOUSING DRUG USE ANTITSOCIAL BEHAVIOUR TOWER BLOCK MOTHER CHILD SAFETY
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