Unhappy tenants vent anger on social media 1/9/14
A growing number of unhappy tenants have taken to Facebook to voice their complaints against Hebridean Housing Partnership, the body which took over the council housing stock.
Nearly 120 people have joined the site -
One complainant maintains her flat in Stornoway was “riddled with dampness” to the extent the “mould was so bad it caused nose bleeds.”
She moved out but HHP “said we caused the dampness.”
“I went through CAB (Citizen’s Advice), MPs, even had a letter from the House of Commons but still lost the battle.
“They billed me nearly £900 in "repairs." I lost on a basis that my photographic evidence wasn't timestamped and couldn't prove the authenticity of when my pictures were taken. We still have to pay this off to this day. Little by little as and when we can.”
Another former tenant maintains he is still being chased for cash for repairs after leaving his HHP house some two years ago.
He said a HHP official “told me I had to remove all flooring in hall and toilet which was brand new at the time. So I did. Since then I've had a bill every month (for the £600 total sought by HHP) to replace two internal doors, the flooring she told me to remove and couple of other small things.”
He said he “had a few phone calls to them about it till I finally told them in no uncertain terms they were not getting a penny from me.”
He still gets an invoice seeking payment every month, he wrote.
He said he is “willing to pay for doors since there was dart holes in them but they wanted 180 for doors you can buy for 30 each.”
One man claimed he was billed for things which already existed in the house before he stayed there.
He said he “got a bill for hundreds for clearing the loft, fixing the sliding doors which they even tried to charge the previous tenant for, fixing the hole in the floor, bricking up the fireplace, removing a bit of ply wood that was a foot squared that was in the house already, and fixing the window.”
The tenant “got threatened with court when I refused to pay which would have scared some people into paying.”
► Housing body challenges accusations of “unfair charges”