Damp, rats...and still booted out
RETIRED shopkeeper Glenise Hutchens says she and husband John put up with damp and rats but were still were evicted from their home of 21 years.
They paid £320 a month for the two-bed property in Gorran Haven, Cornwall.
They fear the landlord felt it was easier to ask them to leave than pay for repairs.
Glenise, 77, and ex-soldier John, 83, left hours before bailiffs were due. They are in emergency accommodation on an isolated farm and John, who has dementia, struggles in new surroundings.
They are not on a bus route, can’t drive and have missed hospital visits because they can’t afford taxis. Glenise said: “The eviction notice was delivered by a solicitor. I was heartbroken. I cried.
“I said, ‘We don’t owe any money – why are they doing this to us?’ He said they were finding [the upkeep] financially difficult.
“It was damp, shabby and uncared for, but we spent a lot of time decorating it, and it was our home.
“There were rats – we spent a fortune on poison.”
The couple’s landlady – daughter of the original owner – agreed the property was in poor condition, saying: “I really tried my best for them, calling the council all the time to try and get them a really good outcome. The situation is just terrible for social housing. There’s nobody in there now and nobody going in. It was not good enough for anybody and I wouldn’t have wanted anyone in there.”