Family are forced to flee from mice-infested flat
A MUM and her young son say they have been forced to flee their mice-infested flat.
Linda Sutherland said she had been fighting to get the problem with her Argyle Street flat resolved for 18 months with Glasgow West Housing Association (GWHA).
She has caught eight mice with traps in recent weeks and claimed the ‘whole building’ is infested.
She said: “Last Sunday, I had to flee my flat in the middle of the night as I woke up to find mice crawling over my bed and on the bedside table next to my son’s head.
“I am afraid to live in the property, and myself and my young son have health issues that are only being inflamed by diseaseinfested mice running all over my flat day and night.”
She left her home last weekend and is now staying with relatives.
She added: “I have been raising this issue for 18 months with no progress.”
Tenants’ union Living Rent visited her landlords yesterday in an attempt to resolve the situation.
They said GWHA had agreed to carry out repairs on the topfloor flat today but they need to clear the infestation from the whole building.
Spokesperson for the Living Rent campaign, Craig Paterson, said: “Today we have secured another victory for tenants with immediate repairs to the property to seal up the mouse holes and make the property habitable for Linda and her young son.
“At the moment they do not consider this to be a ‘decant’ issue, but if that is the case then the rules need to change.
“This has been one of the worst infestations of vermin we have seen and the fact that the issue has been going on for 18 months now is beyond a joke.”
As the factor for the building, Glasgow West Housing Association are also responsible for other apartments in the tenement.
Living Rent now say that, with repairs being carried out, it is important to now begin a dialogue between themselves, the tenant, GWHA and the council.
Mr Paterson added: “Our next step will be to put pressure on the housing association and Glasgow City Council to carry out works to eradicate the infestation throughout the whole building.
“We spoke to other tenants and it seems that the whole building is now infested as we have caught three mice since Wednesday.”
Glasgow West Housing Association were approached for comment but did not respond by the time of publication.