Struggling family from Littleborough who relocated to Devon being “forced to live in damp and mouldy conditions unsuitable for their needs”

A struggling family from Littleborough who relocated to Devon in 2022 have told of how they are being “forced to live in damp and mouldy conditions unsuitable for their needs” or be made homeless by the local authority.

Jeni and Christopher Wardley and their three children – Roxi-Blue, 16, River, 13, and Ocean, eight, who all have additional needs – moved to South Hams for a slower pace of life after being caught up in the Manchester Arena attack in 2017, but say they have been met with constant barriers from South Hams District Council – which the family claim is now trying to put the children into care.

The family originally moved to Devon into a privately rented home, with six months’ rent paid upfront. Christopher was the first to move, having landed a new job, with Jeni and their children following in the months after.

Unfortunately, due to problems with the rented property, the Wardleys were placed into the care of South Hams District Council, which put them into emergency housing in Babbacombe and then a temporary house in Bridgetown which flooded on Christmas Day.

Since coming under the council’s care, the Wardleys have been waiting to be allocated a property suited to their needs since the summer.

River has extensive medical conditions requiring two carers on a 24/7 basis. The 13-year-old has a condition so rare – involving a mutation on his CNK SR2 gene – that he was the first person in the country to be diagnosed with it, and the ninth in the world.

Due to this, River has central and obstructive sleep apnoea, hypermobility, Sensory Processing Disorder, autism, ADHD and uncontrolled epilepsy, which can cause respiratory and cardiac arrest.

Roxi-Blue is autistic and has post-traumatic stress disorder after she and Jeni were at the Ariana Grande concert before the Manchester Arena bombing, whilst Ocean is also undergoing investigations for autism and ADHD.

Full-time carer Jeni, 44, who also has her own health problems including ME and fibromyalgia, said: “River wasn’t placed in school for nine months due to education problems to suit his needs, he was more complex then they realised. I had a mental breakdown due to tiredness as two of our kids were home 24/7.

“My husband took sabbatical leave to help when I became ill but lost his job due to taking more time off than his employer was happy with.

“We aren't earning enough money now to afford private, plus we have no guarantor. Chris can get a new job as he's a first-class honours in Electronic and Electrical engineering, but can’t while all our kids’ needs are still going unmet.

“We are being extremely failed and it’s a full-time job caring for children with medical needs thar are so complex with disabilities. We need a secure place we can call home.”

 

 

The family were made homeless on Christmas Day after their temporary council home suffered flooding and no alternative accommodation was found for them. Thanks to the help of a friend and an online fundraiser, the family stayed in a caravan in Paignton for a few days.

Jeni explained: “The housing officer on Christmas Day said she wasn't looking at the plumber report until the New Year.

“The plumber said it's a big job and was nauseous for the short time he was in the house. All under the floor is rotten with mould and spores, and brown, smelly water soaking into the laminate.

“I asked the housing officer to put us up in a Travel Lodge and she said we didn't warrant it. I was breaking down told her the whole situation and she said she wasn't doing anything.”

“Workers have told us there is wet soil filling the cavities of the living room walls, the walls are also missing insulation and possibly damp-proofing and the walls need stripping back to the bare woodwork,” she continued. “The living room floor hasn’t been installed correctly; it has been laid on a concrete slab without the proper methods being used. The whole floor needs to come up and stripping back to the concrete, new floors needed.

“The window hasn't been installed correctly causing leaks all around the frame.”

However, after returning to the house, the Wardleys say the council wants them to empty the entire house of all their belongings and furniture and put their things into storage, despite repairs only needing to be carried out to one room.

Jeni said she feels like South Hams District Council is “turfing them out” adding: “The front room is empty ready for them to start work. No work has even been started.

They say that they have been told that unless they move into emergency accommodation in Babbacombe – which, due to their children’s complex needs, is unsuitable, Jeni explained – that they will be making themselves 'intentionally' homeless and the council will no longer have a duty of care to house them.

Jeni said: “The housing officer wanted us to sign and take the keys to go back into this same emergency accommodation that's unsafe for our family. They want to put the kids into care and have me and Chris homeless. We put forward a list of why we can't live in emergency housing again.

“We are really good parents, who love our children deeply and all their needs are being met by us, except housing. We have letters of support from the epilepsy nurse, community nurse, social worker to say the emergency house is not safe for River.

“Housing have said if we don't take it, we are making ourselves intentionally homeless and then they no longer have a duty of care to help us. So we have nothing or nowhere to go.”

Now the family say the council wants to place them back into the same block in Babbacombe, which Jeni says is “full of drug addicts and damp.”

“It’s a different room but the same block where we were before,” Jeni explained. “It was damp, we lost so many of our belongings and we were all so very sick. We had to get into wet and damp beds at night, with five of us living in a two-bedroom apartment.

“We weren't allowed to let our kids play outside on the grass or pavement in front of our room.”

She added: “We put all our life savings into this move. We can’t move out of the area because it’s cost us thousands and thousands to move.

“We have now lived in South Hams too long that we are not even the north's responsibility. We are classed as South Hams residents. We have no house to go back to up north; we have no family we can stay with.

“We have tried to work with everyone and everything and ended up homeless.

“My daughter broke down saying she just wants to go home, but we don't have one.”

South Hams District Council’s executive member for housing, Councillor Denise O’Callaghan, said: “We cannot comment on individual cases, particularly where we don’t have consent to do so.

“However, we can state that we do not make offers of accommodation unless we are sure that it is suitable, safe and of good standard. Faults occur in properties and not all issues can be foreseen. “Whether a fault is reported to us on Christmas Day or any other, we respond rapidly to address it and ensure the safety of households living in property provided by us.

“Any family requiring emergency housing has their needs taken into account when considering the type of accommodation offered.

“We are proud to be a Local Authority which strives to deliver a fair and equitable service, taking into account the full range of vulnerabilities and household needs we are presented with.”

Donations can be made via GoFundMe:

• www.gofundme.com/f/extreme-family-emergency-help-fund