Family’s housing nightmare is over

A Walsall family who suffered a catalogue of problems with a private landlord before being evicted has told how they have finally found their forever home.

Mother-of-six Janet Williams and her family were one of the first to move into the Lockside housing development, which has seen more than 300 houses built on the site on the former Caparo steelworks in Birchills.

West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker described the scheme as fantastic and said he was committed to finding social and affordable homes for families in need in the region.

Mrs Williams, who lives there with husband Brian and two of her daughters, said her life has been transformed and is a complete turnaround from the nightmare she endured previously.

The family was a victim of a ‘no-fault’ eviction from a private landlord in their previous house in Willenhall.

Prior to this, the landlord had failed to address a string of issues including widespread mould, a front door which would not lock and a broken toilet which wasn’t repaired for three days.

To make matters worse, her husband Brian suffers from mental health issues and the saga didn’t help.

Mrs Williams said: “It was the worst house ever. We lived there for two years and it was two years of misery.

“We didn’t have a toilet for three days, we had mould on the walls. We reported the broken door and they came out, bodged it up and it went again.

“The rent was £700 per month and then after a year later it went up to £750. But I had no choice but to pay it otherwise I’d have been homeless.

“The landlord told us he was selling the house and he wanted it back but he has put a new kitchen in, new carpets, new everything and painted all and is renting it out again.

“He served us with a section 21 eviction notice giving us two months. I was always alright with him, always paid the rent on time so he couldn’t question that.

“The house was alright when we first saw it. Problems started a year into us living there. When we put complaints in about repairs, he didn’t like it.

“I’ll never rent off a private landlord ever again. I lived there two years ago and we’ve been here three years now.

“I was one of the first to move here. Walsall Housing Group (whg) offered it me and I accepted it immediately. I was facing being homeless.”

She said the new home she moved into three years ago has made a world of difference to the couple and her daughters Chantelle, aged 16, and 13-year-old Talisha.

The rent is around £150 a month less than she was previously paying. Mrs Williams said: “We love it here. I wouldn’t move from here now. It’s a godsend.

Mr Parker said: “Janet was evicted almost overnight by a landlord from poor quality, very expensive rented housing and she’s got a fantastic new home here.

“She explained it has changed her life. For the first time for a long time, she is living in warm, safe, secure affordable housing and she is able to build a new life here.

“This programme I’ve got around affordable housing, it’s stories like that which is behind my mission.”

He added: “Sadly, it’s a typical story and a story I hear on every housing visit I do.

“I visited an inner city school in Handsworth and the day I was there, two of the kids and their mother were evicted from a landlord overnight.

“The teachers chipped in so they can stay at a hotel for a few nights otherwise they would have been sleeping on the streets.

“When you’ve got a family where the landlord makes repairs at quick notice it’s fantastic for them.”

Lockside was developed by house builder Lovell and whg to transform the site with the support of the WMCA, Homes England and Walsall Council.