‘It’s disgusting the way we of nightmare at freezing, Were treated’ – tenants tell rat-infested seafront site
PEOPLE who lived and worked at a seafront site claim they experienced years of appalling conditions and a torrid relationship with their landlord.
Events at the Buccaneer Complex in Porthcawl have come to a head in recent weeks with tenants being forced to leave, a fire ripping through the flats, and a pizza shop owner alleging thousands of pounds’ worth of damage to equipment during removal.
The Buccaneer building, in Mackworth Road, dates back to the 1930s.
In recent years it was home to a kebab shop, a surf shop and the popular Buccaneer pub itself, as well as a tenant living above the pub.
Adjoining the building’s yard is a row of six bungalows – tiny studio flats known as “the chalets”.
People who lived there claim the hole-ridden, freezing flats have a serious rat infestation, no radiators, and a sagging roof. Bridgend council served a prohibition order forcing tenants to leave by March because the terrace chalets were unsafe.
Our understanding is the order did not apply to the building that housed the pub and shops.
But as we recently revealed, the pub unexpectedly closed down ahead of the summer season, much to the dismay of people who felt “the heart was being ripped out” of the community, while the pizzeria and surf shop have also been forced to close.
Mehmet Baykara, who ran the takeaway, Pizza Bella, said the businesses were only given a few weeks’ notice, but because they did not have a written tenancy agreement they were unable to challenge the evictions. In the case of the pizza shop, the eviction allegedly resulted in damage to equipment as it was dumped outside the building.
The owners of the Buccaneer Complex are Simon Dalton – director of successful Bridgend manufacturing firm Roma Medical – and his brother, Alistair.
But it is understood that, until recently, it was leased to a businessman called James Quantick, who used to run a Wimpy franchise in Porthcawl, and who sublet out the Buccaneer Complex.
Alistair Dalton told us the leaseholder was “fully responsible for the management and operation of the property” and that the lease has been terminated.
Mr Quantick, 46, who has not responded to our approaches for comment over the past two weeks, was named on paperwork as one of two landlords for the chalets – the other being Les Tallon-Morris, a 57-year-old former independent town councillor for Porthcawl East Central.
Mr Tallon-Morris claimed: “I was
just the rental agent. All the decisions were made by James. I tried to make it adequate for the tenants. When I asked for funds to make repairs, James said there was no money there.”
According to a spokesman for Bridgend council, it is investigating the matter, but refused to comment further.
‘My mental health suffered so badly living in the chalet’
Tara Sterndale moved into one of the chalets in January 2019.
She claims she paid Mr Quantick a deposit, but he allegedly did not provide a tenancy agreement in writing.
The dispute was resolved when Ms Sterndale was approached by Mr Tallon-Morris, who said he himself would be named as landlord on the tenancy agreement.
Ms Sterndale, 56, paid the former councillor rent of £90 a week, which later rose to £100 a week.
She described her chalet as a tiny
studio flat with no radiator or doubleglazing, meaning she had to rely on her own electric heater, and no cooking facilities beyond a microwave and toaster.
“There was only one socket in each chalet, so everything was on extension leads: TV, fridge, microwave, kettle, toaster, lamp, heater,” she said.
“My electric kept tripping out. I was scared every time I had to plug something in.
“The boiler used to break at least every couple of weeks and we’d have no hot water for days. I’d wake up to find rats on the floor that my dogs had killed in the night.”
Ms Sterndale, who was a fruit shop worker at the time, says holes in the accommodation led to a rat problem so bad that, in a grim protest, she propped up a plank of wood outside bearing the words “rat hotel”.
She feared the sagging roof of the chalets would collapse.
Despite repeatedly reporting the issues to Mr Tallon-Morris, they were not addressed, she claims.
“My mental health suffered so badly living in the chalet. It got so bad my doctor put me on antidepressants. I was trying to get rehoused by the council for two years. I even had a letter off my doctor.”
Tony Christian, a 60-year-old stroke survivor with mobility problems, claims he paid Mr Tallon-Morris rent of £390 a month to live in one of the chalets.
He claims rats infested his flat for years and he had to buy a new door because of holes which, he claims, he had reported to Mr Quantick but had not been repaired.
Mr Christian added that one of his windows did not close properly and that there were holes in the roof.
“A friend of mine said it would cost him £2,000 to put in a new roof and double-glazed windows,” said Mr Christian.
“For three years Les and James said they’d sort it and they never did. I would sometimes sleep fully clothed or with two blankets to keep warm. It seemed like James couldn’t care less. We never even had fire alarms until about a year ago.”
Council papers show there was an inspection in October 2022 and then, with the issues still unresolved, a prohibition order was served in October 2023, ordering tenants to leave the chalets by March this year.
The notice said there was “inadequate provision” of fixed heating, insulation, fire detection and kitchen facilities.
Ms Sterndale was frustrated it had taken so long for the council to act, but having now been made homeless, she expected she would be rehoused.
Yet she says the council told her that her three dogs would not be accommodated, so she ended up privately renting a caravan in Newport, the only affordable option she could find.
“It’s disgusting the way we were
treated by everyone involved,” she said.
Meanwhile, the council put Mr Christian, who relies on benefits, in temporary accommodation in Ogmore Vale.
The disabled 60-year-old has no support network in the area, some 15 miles from the Porthcawl community where he had spent most of his life.
“I just want to move back to Porthcawl,” he said.
Fire ravages flat
One chalet remained occupied for weeks after the council’s March deadline, but the people living there were eventually forced out by a fire.
It has been claimed the occupants had been relying on candles because their electricity had been cut off, and in the early hours of Saturday, April 13, a candle started a fire at the chalet.
We spoke to John – not his real name – who was living above the Buccaneer pub at the time and sprang from his bed shortly after 1am when he heard the fire alarm go off.
He ran out and saw the tenants of the chalet had already escaped, then he rescued their dog from inside the building, which was so hot that his phone was heat-damaged.
The fire ravaged the flat and spread across its roof to damage the other chalets, before firefighters extinguished the blaze shortly before 3am.
John’s own time at the Buccaneer Complex was also about to come to an abrupt end, although we understand his flat was not affected by the council’s order. He had moved into one of the chalets around two years ago, then six months later, moved into the flat above the pub.
He claimed: “There was no tenancy agreement in writing. It was an oral agreement where James Quantick promised me I could stay there for three and a half years. I paid him £130 a week. Last month I was told I had four weeks to vacate the property.
James said it was because he’d lost his lease.”
The former tenant feels his “civil rights were demolished” because he had no written agreement.
During the previous 18 months, he claims, there were various issues with his flat, including serious water leaks and electricity that “went off all the time”, which were allegedly not addressed by Mr Quantick.
John claims he had agreed with Mr Quantick that he would leave by the end of Sunday, April 14.
He alleges that his flat’s water and electricity were cut off in the week leading up to that date.
Pizza shop row
Another tenant forced to leave was Mehmet Baykara, owner of Pizza Bella.
Unlike the surf shop and pub, which had already left the building, Mr Baykara refused to abide by the three weeks’ notice that Mr Quantick
had allegedly given him.
He told us he had been running the shop for around six years, but after his written tenancy agreement lapsed around 2020, he had been renting under an oral agreement, paying Mr Quantick £14,000 a year, which he claims was mostly cash in hand.
Mr Baykara, 51, claims he had recently spent £25,000 on equipment and had struggled through the winter only to be forced out ahead of the summer season, with an eviction date of April 10.
“Since last October I’d not been making money, and now that I’d started making some, I was being forced to leave with no written notice,” he claimed.
“I’ve got two young kids and I’ve really been struggling. I told James I wasn’t going anywhere until the summer season finished.”
Mr Baykara claims he was locked out of the takeaway on Friday, April 12, and when he attended on the
Sunday he saw his equipment had been taken from the kitchen and dumped outside the building, allegedly causing thousands of pounds’ worth of damage to items including his fridge-freezer, fryer, grill, pizza oven and display fridge.
“Everything was broken,” claimed Mr Baykara. “It is horrible. I can’t stop thinking about it. I can’t pay my rent or my bills, I’ve no money coming in, I am not sleeping till 4am.”
He made a complaint to South Wales Police, but a force spokeswoman told us this was a “civil matter between the landlord and the tenant” and that no “criminal offences” had been reported.
“I’ve lost a lot as well”
When the Western Mail put these claims to Mr Tallon-Morris, he said: “I’ve lost a lot as well. I took out a loan and maxed out my credit card on preparations because James told me I’d be able to open a pub above the Buccaneer. I worked really hard.
“Nobody was told it was going to be closed down. I had on many occasions asked for the roof [of the chalets] to be renewed and for double glazing. Yet the answer from above was always the same: no.
“Little did I know that the lease was running out. I am over £40,000 in debt because of this. Does anyone really think if I knew what was going on I would have invested my time and money?”
The former councillor added: “I tried my best to keep everything going with the small monetary percentage received from the leaseholder... There was lots of maintenance carried out including new doors, new glass in windows, new smoke alarms, new guttering and repairs to the roof. I tried.”
He claims that tenants throwing bread contributed to the rodent problem and that he was “constantly giving them rat poison when there was an issue”.
He added that he had fitted an extra socket for Ms Sterndale.
Asked about the lack of radiators, he replied: “One was fitted in Chalet Five and the others did not as the powers that be refused to. We know why now, as the lease was up.”
Alistair Dalton said: “The Buccaneer Complex in Porthcawl was subject to a lease with the previous leaseholder, who had been fully responsible for the management and operation of the property.
“On October 11, 2023, notice was served on the leaseholder to terminate the lease in accordance with a break clause and it is now concluded. We will now take time to decide on the positive future for the property.”
A Bridgend council spokesman said: “We are unable to comment upon specific details as this matter is still under investigation.”
At the time of publication, Mr Quantick had not responded to our approaches for comment.