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An estimated one in six people in Britain live in social housing. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:05 | |
And in the current economic climate, | 0:00:05 | 0:00:07 | |
the waiting lists are growing every week. | 0:00:07 | 0:00:09 | |
For every person you make happy, | 0:00:09 | 0:00:11 | |
there's probably three or four times as many who are disappointed. | 0:00:11 | 0:00:15 | |
-Britain's housing officers are on the front line. -Jeanette, can you let me in? | 0:00:15 | 0:00:19 | |
It's just like nothing like you've ever smelled before. | 0:00:19 | 0:00:22 | |
They deal with over 11 million tenants day in, day out. | 0:00:22 | 0:00:26 | |
-Oh, I don't believe you've let him out. -Most are good tenants, | 0:00:26 | 0:00:29 | |
but a few risk everything with their antisocial behaviour. | 0:00:29 | 0:00:33 | |
His tenancy is on a knife edge. | 0:00:33 | 0:00:35 | |
If they want to take it, they'll have to take it with me on it. | 0:00:36 | 0:00:39 | |
Eviction is the last thing that we want to do. | 0:00:39 | 0:00:42 | |
And we've got to do it for the sake of the community. | 0:00:42 | 0:00:45 | |
Every week there's a different set of problems. | 0:00:45 | 0:00:48 | |
MUSIC BLARES | 0:00:49 | 0:00:52 | |
Bloody ridiculous, isn't it? I mean, nobody can go to sleep with this noise, can they? | 0:00:52 | 0:00:56 | |
I can't stand him any more. | 0:00:56 | 0:00:58 | |
Either he goes or I go. | 0:00:58 | 0:01:01 | |
She arrived in a taxi with the black bags, I just said to her, | 0:01:01 | 0:01:04 | |
"We've only got one bedroom, it's going to be a bit tight." | 0:01:04 | 0:01:07 | |
My heart goes out for people like that, | 0:01:07 | 0:01:10 | |
cos you know they're in genuine need of houses. | 0:01:10 | 0:01:12 | |
Quite shocked, really. | 0:01:12 | 0:01:13 | |
Our contractors had advised us that it was bad in there, | 0:01:13 | 0:01:17 | |
but I didn't expect it to be as bad as it was. | 0:01:17 | 0:01:19 | |
Have you seen the rubbish that's in there? | 0:01:19 | 0:01:22 | |
Rice pudding, February 1999. Before the millennium. | 0:01:22 | 0:01:27 | |
Three million Britons are estimated to suffer noise nuisance from their neighbours, | 0:01:41 | 0:01:46 | |
but only a third of those ever confront the perpetrators. | 0:01:46 | 0:01:50 | |
MUSIC BLARES: "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga | 0:01:50 | 0:01:53 | |
In Stalybridge, east of Manchester, | 0:02:03 | 0:02:06 | |
one 48-year-old tenant won't stop partying. | 0:02:06 | 0:02:09 | |
# Baby, I was born this way... # | 0:02:09 | 0:02:13 | |
MUSIC STOPS | 0:02:15 | 0:02:17 | |
Stephen has been referred to tenancy enforcement officer Ivan Wright | 0:02:20 | 0:02:24 | |
after a series of interventions have failed to curb his behaviour. | 0:02:24 | 0:02:28 | |
He's had a written warning the back end of 2010, | 0:02:28 | 0:02:32 | |
he had a warning the back end of last year in September | 0:02:32 | 0:02:35 | |
and he's also had a warning this February. | 0:02:35 | 0:02:38 | |
So I'm going today to see what he's got to say | 0:02:38 | 0:02:41 | |
about these other incidences, | 0:02:41 | 0:02:43 | |
but ultimately he will be looking at further tenancy action. | 0:02:43 | 0:02:46 | |
Stephen, a former painter and decorator, | 0:02:46 | 0:02:50 | |
lives in this low-rise block. | 0:02:50 | 0:02:52 | |
Ivan has arranged to confront him with police officer Mike Devine. | 0:02:52 | 0:02:57 | |
Stephen? Can you open up? | 0:02:59 | 0:03:02 | |
All right? | 0:03:04 | 0:03:07 | |
-It's all right to sit down, there's no needles or anything. -All right. | 0:03:07 | 0:03:10 | |
My job is tenancy enforcement. | 0:03:10 | 0:03:13 | |
Right, I work for the tenancy support services. | 0:03:13 | 0:03:16 | |
You've now had three warning letters since your tenancy commenced. | 0:03:16 | 0:03:21 | |
As a result of that, we've then had further complaints, yeah? | 0:03:21 | 0:03:24 | |
So that's why I'm here, that's why I'm involved and that's my main job. | 0:03:24 | 0:03:27 | |
They complain... They complain when I'm not here. | 0:03:27 | 0:03:29 | |
-How can I make noise when I'm not here? -OK. | 0:03:29 | 0:03:31 | |
So when you've had a few, do you usually put on loud music? | 0:03:31 | 0:03:35 | |
I put it on as quiet as I can. | 0:03:35 | 0:03:37 | |
Do you want to try it now? | 0:03:37 | 0:03:40 | |
-So what number? Is it on numbers? -It comes on, on 50, yeah? -50? | 0:03:40 | 0:03:44 | |
-Yeah, well... -And what number do you normally play it at? | 0:03:44 | 0:03:46 | |
50, because that's... | 0:03:46 | 0:03:48 | |
-MUSIC BLARES -That's obviously too loud, isn't it? | 0:03:48 | 0:03:51 | |
Yes, yes, well, I know that. But I like to hear the words. | 0:03:51 | 0:03:54 | |
Well, we can't allow you to continue to annoy your neighbours. | 0:03:55 | 0:03:58 | |
I know, well, I don't want to continue. | 0:03:58 | 0:04:00 | |
Cos I've got a responsibility for everybody else here as well. | 0:04:00 | 0:04:04 | |
I know that, yeah. But I am trying me best. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:06 | |
Stephen has lots of friends and his door is always open. | 0:04:08 | 0:04:12 | |
Come in a minute cos I want to speak to you anyway. | 0:04:12 | 0:04:15 | |
His tenancy is on a knife edge, | 0:04:15 | 0:04:17 | |
if he continues to get complaints from all the other neighbours | 0:04:17 | 0:04:20 | |
about people coming and going, down the line he could be evicted. | 0:04:20 | 0:04:23 | |
-That's why I don't... -What you and all his other mates need to know is exactly that. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:28 | |
I have said it to him as well, ain't I? | 0:04:28 | 0:04:30 | |
I have sat him down and told him, you know? | 0:04:30 | 0:04:32 | |
-All right, just remember what I've said, all right? -No music. Have a quiet drink. | 0:04:32 | 0:04:36 | |
And clean this gaff up, I've told you, as well. | 0:04:36 | 0:04:39 | |
Thank you. It is actually tidier than the last time. | 0:04:39 | 0:04:43 | |
I'm 48. I'm a free spirit, | 0:04:43 | 0:04:45 | |
I just party 24/7. | 0:04:45 | 0:04:47 | |
If we continue to get complaints | 0:04:49 | 0:04:51 | |
about his loud music and disorder at the property | 0:04:51 | 0:04:54 | |
then he's not going to keep his tenancy for very long. | 0:04:54 | 0:04:58 | |
Each week in England, there are at least 1,500 new applications | 0:04:58 | 0:05:02 | |
for social housing and each one is individually approved. | 0:05:02 | 0:05:05 | |
In Ashton-under-Lyne, one housing association | 0:05:07 | 0:05:09 | |
has started a system of home visits for new applicants. | 0:05:09 | 0:05:13 | |
Rita Ward is checking on a family claiming severe overcrowding. | 0:05:13 | 0:05:17 | |
A give away is if the children's things are there | 0:05:17 | 0:05:20 | |
cos if you've got two children, you've got a lot of clutter | 0:05:20 | 0:05:22 | |
and a lot of things to take with you, | 0:05:22 | 0:05:24 | |
and also if she's got any correspondence going there, | 0:05:24 | 0:05:27 | |
bank statements, documents like that to say if she's registered there. | 0:05:27 | 0:05:31 | |
Vicky and her two children have told the housing association | 0:05:33 | 0:05:37 | |
they are living with her mum and dad | 0:05:37 | 0:05:38 | |
in their privately rented one-bed flat. | 0:05:38 | 0:05:40 | |
Before we start filling out the form, | 0:05:40 | 0:05:43 | |
could you explain, like, a bit of your circumstances | 0:05:43 | 0:05:46 | |
and we can take it from there? How you ended up here? | 0:05:46 | 0:05:49 | |
Yeah, I was living with my partner, | 0:05:49 | 0:05:51 | |
we split up and I had nowhere else to go so I had to come here. | 0:05:51 | 0:05:54 | |
Rita needs to assess whether Vicky and her children | 0:05:54 | 0:05:58 | |
are in fact staying with her parents, Brian and Joan. | 0:05:58 | 0:06:00 | |
What I'm here to do, is we come out and do a home visit. | 0:06:00 | 0:06:03 | |
Now, this is a new thing, it's not been going that long, | 0:06:03 | 0:06:07 | |
and it's to check that people, | 0:06:07 | 0:06:08 | |
when they say that they're in the situation that they're in, | 0:06:08 | 0:06:11 | |
we've got to make sure, you know, we verify the points. | 0:06:11 | 0:06:14 | |
It's just for yourself and your son and daughter, isn't it, for rehousing? | 0:06:14 | 0:06:19 | |
So it's just got one bedroom in this property. | 0:06:19 | 0:06:22 | |
-So where do you sleep? Is it...? -On the floor, on an air bed. | 0:06:22 | 0:06:25 | |
Right-o, have you got the... where the airbed is, cos what I do, | 0:06:25 | 0:06:28 | |
I've got a camera and what I do I take pictures, | 0:06:28 | 0:06:30 | |
and I take it all back and this'll be saved on your file, Vicky. | 0:06:30 | 0:06:34 | |
-So this where your mum and dad sleep? -Yeah. | 0:06:34 | 0:06:38 | |
Do you want me to get them both out? Me daughter's got the single one | 0:06:38 | 0:06:41 | |
-and then me and me little boy share the double. -Aw. | 0:06:41 | 0:06:44 | |
-Aw, look! -SHE LAUGHS | 0:06:44 | 0:06:47 | |
-Got no more. -Got no more? | 0:06:47 | 0:06:49 | |
So all this, is this all your clothing and the kids' stuff | 0:06:49 | 0:06:52 | |
and stuff like that, cos that all helps when I take it back. | 0:06:52 | 0:06:56 | |
This is the bathroom. | 0:06:56 | 0:06:58 | |
-Is this your bedding? -That's me bedding, yeah. | 0:07:00 | 0:07:03 | |
-CAMERA CLICKS -Right, that's smashing. | 0:07:03 | 0:07:05 | |
You climb back on there, sweetheart. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:07 | |
-Well, it's nice to meet you. -You, too. | 0:07:07 | 0:07:10 | |
-All right then. See you now. -See ya. | 0:07:10 | 0:07:13 | |
You knew straight away when you walked in. | 0:07:15 | 0:07:18 | |
You kind of, like, know. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:19 | |
As soon as you see the amount of like the children's clothes there, | 0:07:19 | 0:07:22 | |
there was toys there. Like, she had the television there. | 0:07:22 | 0:07:26 | |
You, there's certain things you look out for | 0:07:26 | 0:07:28 | |
and you can spot when you walk in. She couldn't have set that up. | 0:07:28 | 0:07:31 | |
Especially the little boy, when he pulled the airbeds out | 0:07:31 | 0:07:35 | |
from under the grandparent's double bed. | 0:07:35 | 0:07:38 | |
You know for a fact, you know, they were genuine... | 0:07:38 | 0:07:42 | |
and my heart goes out for people like that, | 0:07:42 | 0:07:44 | |
cos you know they're in genuine need of houses coming back. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:47 | |
Now, with any doubts removed, | 0:07:48 | 0:07:50 | |
the household are officially classed as overcrowded. | 0:07:50 | 0:07:54 | |
Leyton, sit down, now. | 0:07:54 | 0:07:56 | |
Vicky, three-year-old Leyton, | 0:07:57 | 0:07:59 | |
12-year-old Sasha, grandma and grandpa | 0:07:59 | 0:08:03 | |
all share the open-plan one-bed flat. | 0:08:03 | 0:08:07 | |
She arrived in a taxi with the black bags and that was it. | 0:08:07 | 0:08:11 | |
We moved her in and, well, we just thought, | 0:08:11 | 0:08:14 | |
"We've only got one bedroom, it's going to be a bit tight." | 0:08:14 | 0:08:17 | |
-Right, you're going to get your covers, Leyton. -No. | 0:08:17 | 0:08:20 | |
-No. -Come and help mummy get your covers. -No, I'm not going. | 0:08:20 | 0:08:22 | |
You are, it's bedtime. | 0:08:22 | 0:08:24 | |
It's been a struggle, but... | 0:08:24 | 0:08:28 | |
hopefully... | 0:08:28 | 0:08:30 | |
she will find somewhere, you know? | 0:08:30 | 0:08:33 | |
-You do your homework now? -Yeah. | 0:08:33 | 0:08:35 | |
Grandpa Brian has been recovering from an operation. | 0:08:35 | 0:08:40 | |
'Me dad's not long been out of hospital having a tumour removed,' | 0:08:40 | 0:08:44 | |
so I didn't want to be in this situation | 0:08:44 | 0:08:46 | |
cos I don't want to stress him out any more than what he already was. | 0:08:46 | 0:08:50 | |
I mean, he's got to go back in January to have it checked again | 0:08:50 | 0:08:53 | |
to make sure it's not come back. But if it did, | 0:08:53 | 0:08:55 | |
I'd feel like it was me to blame. | 0:08:55 | 0:08:57 | |
And for the last five weeks, | 0:08:57 | 0:08:59 | |
Sasha has been doing her homework amongst the chaos. | 0:08:59 | 0:09:03 | |
It's just dead crowded so I'm trying to, like... | 0:09:04 | 0:09:07 | |
And I keep getting headaches so I can't do as much as I want to, | 0:09:07 | 0:09:10 | |
but like if I was in my room on me own, I'd be able to get higher level | 0:09:10 | 0:09:13 | |
because I could concentrate more, | 0:09:13 | 0:09:15 | |
and then I'd be able to do a lot more, | 0:09:15 | 0:09:18 | |
but I can't help that, so I just try me hardest. | 0:09:18 | 0:09:21 | |
Come on, sweet. | 0:09:21 | 0:09:23 | |
In the evening, no-one can settle until Leyton is asleep. | 0:09:23 | 0:09:27 | |
And then the beds can be inflated. | 0:09:30 | 0:09:33 | |
Over in Stalybridge, it's 10:30 in the morning | 0:09:42 | 0:09:46 | |
and Stephen's been shopping. | 0:09:46 | 0:09:48 | |
Good excuse, that. I can go quicker backwards. Come on. | 0:09:50 | 0:09:54 | |
DOG BARKS | 0:09:54 | 0:09:56 | |
It's the cheapest cider on the market, I think, | 0:09:57 | 0:10:01 | |
and it's never seen an apple, it's all chemicals. | 0:10:01 | 0:10:03 | |
The lyrics to this... Listen to this. MUSIC BLARES | 0:10:04 | 0:10:08 | |
I'll turn it up slightly. | 0:10:10 | 0:10:12 | |
You can't listen to this one quietly, it has to be... | 0:10:13 | 0:10:16 | |
VOLUME INCREASES | 0:10:16 | 0:10:18 | |
50, 50. | 0:10:19 | 0:10:21 | |
Directly above Stephen, in one of the other 12 flats, | 0:10:31 | 0:10:34 | |
is 70-year-old Tom, who's suffered 18 months of Stephen's partying. | 0:10:34 | 0:10:39 | |
BASS RUMBLES | 0:10:39 | 0:10:42 | |
Type of music at the moment is bass drums. | 0:10:42 | 0:10:46 | |
I would say a type of music that is consistent with the Zumba dancing, | 0:10:48 | 0:10:55 | |
as they call it, and this, at the present moment, | 0:10:55 | 0:10:59 | |
does actually sound quite loud and it's now ten minutes to 11. | 0:10:59 | 0:11:06 | |
If you're subjected day after day after day to anti-social behaviour, | 0:11:15 | 0:11:19 | |
especially if it's in the form of noise, | 0:11:19 | 0:11:20 | |
it really, really can drive people to distraction. | 0:11:20 | 0:11:23 | |
It can affect their health. They'll lose sleep, they become stressed. | 0:11:23 | 0:11:28 | |
If it's continuing, continuing, continuing, | 0:11:28 | 0:11:30 | |
I've known people actually try to take their own lives | 0:11:30 | 0:11:33 | |
because they can't stand it any more, | 0:11:33 | 0:11:35 | |
so, for me, that is very, very serious. | 0:11:35 | 0:11:37 | |
In cases of persistent anti-social behaviour, the housing association | 0:11:37 | 0:11:41 | |
-have the authority to covertly gather evidence. -Simon, you OK? | 0:11:41 | 0:11:45 | |
-'Yes, OK.' -Right, thanks. | 0:11:45 | 0:11:47 | |
This morning, Ivan is installing noise-monitoring equipment in Tom's flat. | 0:11:47 | 0:11:52 | |
It'll hear what you're doing, obviously, | 0:11:53 | 0:11:57 | |
but we'll only play back what you instruct us to play back, | 0:11:57 | 0:12:00 | |
so if you say there's an incident at ten o'clock on Monday, for instance, | 0:12:00 | 0:12:05 | |
then we'll record that incident. | 0:12:05 | 0:12:07 | |
This equipment... | 0:12:07 | 0:12:09 | |
..takes the onus off the victims, if you like, off the witnesses, | 0:12:10 | 0:12:14 | |
because it's not an easy thing to do, giving evidence, | 0:12:14 | 0:12:17 | |
and sometimes there's a necessity to attend court and things like that. | 0:12:17 | 0:12:20 | |
To have noise recordings, it just kind of negates that. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:26 | |
If you... If you have any issues, then let me know anyway, | 0:12:26 | 0:12:29 | |
-but, hopefully, fingers crossed... -Fine, yes. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:31 | |
..it's done the trick and we'll see. | 0:12:31 | 0:12:33 | |
Take care, bye now. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:35 | |
As Ivan leaves, he bumps into Stephen. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:38 | |
I've let a lad move in with me, he's homeless. And he's been in t'army. | 0:12:38 | 0:12:42 | |
Not only are his mates coming and going, | 0:12:42 | 0:12:45 | |
but he's now moved in a new lodger. | 0:12:45 | 0:12:48 | |
-And how do you know him? -I met him in Stalybridge and he took me for a pint, really nice lad. | 0:12:48 | 0:12:53 | |
I think he's got issues, like, but don't we all? | 0:12:53 | 0:12:55 | |
Do you think that's very wise, considering what position you're in? | 0:12:55 | 0:12:58 | |
He seems all right and it's all shipshape and Bristol fashion. | 0:12:59 | 0:13:02 | |
Did you get the caution I sent through in the post? | 0:13:02 | 0:13:05 | |
The letter to say anything, change of circumstances...? Yeah. | 0:13:05 | 0:13:10 | |
It'll be, like, legal action next. | 0:13:10 | 0:13:13 | |
You've got to be more than careful now | 0:13:13 | 0:13:16 | |
cos I don't want to end up evicting you. But that's what'll happen. | 0:13:16 | 0:13:19 | |
I don't want to end up on streets again. I know this. | 0:13:19 | 0:13:23 | |
If I hadn't have been in, it wouldn't have happened. | 0:13:23 | 0:13:26 | |
Cos you can't afford to have any complaints now. | 0:13:26 | 0:13:28 | |
Well, I've been doing... I've been making precautions. | 0:13:28 | 0:13:31 | |
I'm a good boy now, I'm trying to be. | 0:13:31 | 0:13:34 | |
It's about time - I'm 48. | 0:13:34 | 0:13:36 | |
-About time I pulled me finger out, isn't it? -It is. | 0:13:36 | 0:13:39 | |
See's you in a bit, yeah? | 0:13:39 | 0:13:41 | |
Stephen's new lodger, Col, | 0:13:42 | 0:13:44 | |
joins the growing circle of friends who congregate in his flat. | 0:13:44 | 0:13:48 | |
Bumped into him in the centre, he said, "What you up to, Col?" | 0:13:48 | 0:13:52 | |
I said, "I don't know where to go. That's what I'm up to." | 0:13:52 | 0:13:56 | |
He says, "Here, come stay with us and all this lot," | 0:13:56 | 0:13:58 | |
so, yesterday, I moved here and here I am. | 0:13:58 | 0:14:02 | |
I've still got people here, but... | 0:14:02 | 0:14:06 | |
What on Earth is that supposed to be all about? | 0:14:06 | 0:14:09 | |
Like a dog's back leg, but it's straight, you know, like. | 0:14:09 | 0:14:13 | |
You can get a right good... | 0:14:13 | 0:14:15 | |
LIGHT SHADE RATTLES Gee! Oh. | 0:14:15 | 0:14:17 | |
Certainly worries me a little bit | 0:14:17 | 0:14:19 | |
cos he doesn't know anything about them, | 0:14:19 | 0:14:21 | |
he doesn't know how loud or not that person is | 0:14:21 | 0:14:23 | |
and he's responsible for them. | 0:14:23 | 0:14:25 | |
'He's been pretty foolish, really, | 0:14:25 | 0:14:26 | |
'but I couldn't have spelled it out clearer to him last time.' | 0:14:26 | 0:14:29 | |
He's sober today, he was sober then, | 0:14:29 | 0:14:32 | |
so he's got no excuse, really. | 0:14:32 | 0:14:34 | |
It wasn't too bad last night, just freezing. | 0:14:47 | 0:14:50 | |
I keep waking up in the middle of the night with it being colder, | 0:14:50 | 0:14:53 | |
it's absolutely freezing. | 0:14:53 | 0:14:55 | |
In Hyde, Vicky, Sasha, Leyton, Grandpa and Grandma | 0:14:55 | 0:14:59 | |
are getting ready for another day. | 0:14:59 | 0:15:01 | |
Sasha gets the eight o'clock bus | 0:15:01 | 0:15:03 | |
and we start clearing everything away, | 0:15:03 | 0:15:06 | |
getting the living room back to a living room. | 0:15:06 | 0:15:09 | |
Six weeks tomorrow, yeah. | 0:15:10 | 0:15:12 | |
Don't come in! | 0:15:14 | 0:15:15 | |
-Love you. -Love you, see you later. | 0:15:18 | 0:15:19 | |
I'll stand here and watch her, then she'll start messaging me, | 0:15:19 | 0:15:22 | |
then when she gets to school she'll tell me to ring her, | 0:15:22 | 0:15:25 | |
so I ring her until she gets in school. | 0:15:25 | 0:15:27 | |
I feel that's just me being paranoid! | 0:15:29 | 0:15:30 | |
SHE LAUGHS | 0:15:30 | 0:15:32 | |
All I want is just a roof over me head, that's it, | 0:15:33 | 0:15:37 | |
I don't ask for nothing much, you know, | 0:15:37 | 0:15:39 | |
I don't want a castle or anything, I just want...somewhere to be a home. | 0:15:39 | 0:15:43 | |
Probably miss 'em when they've gone anyway, miss having them around, | 0:15:45 | 0:15:49 | |
but we'll be glad, yeah, we can get everything back to normal. | 0:15:49 | 0:15:54 | |
Vicky's housing association allocate their empty homes | 0:15:55 | 0:15:59 | |
through a bidding system. | 0:15:59 | 0:16:00 | |
Each week, applicants put their names down for anything suitable. | 0:16:00 | 0:16:04 | |
I just really, really need to find somewhere, yeah, just hoping. | 0:16:04 | 0:16:09 | |
The rules state that Vicky can only bid for three-bed homes, | 0:16:09 | 0:16:12 | |
as the children must have separate rooms. | 0:16:12 | 0:16:14 | |
It's a three-bedroomed house in Dukinfield. | 0:16:14 | 0:16:18 | |
Not seen anything else in there, though. | 0:16:20 | 0:16:23 | |
Three-bed homes rarely come up and, when they do, they're very popular. | 0:16:27 | 0:16:32 | |
-Hiya. -I want to put a bid on that one, please. | 0:16:32 | 0:16:35 | |
OK, you want to put your bid on Armadale Road? | 0:16:35 | 0:16:38 | |
It usually takes a couple of weeks, two to three weeks, | 0:16:38 | 0:16:43 | |
but, in the meantime, if you continue bidding, | 0:16:43 | 0:16:45 | |
it won't affect the outcome of this bid, anyway. | 0:16:45 | 0:16:48 | |
-Yeah, that's gone on fine for you. -Thank you. -Bye. | 0:16:48 | 0:16:51 | |
Just got to wait a couple of weeks, see what happens on that bid. | 0:16:54 | 0:16:58 | |
'That's all I can do really, just wait, just carry on bidding | 0:17:01 | 0:17:04 | |
'if there's any more next week.' | 0:17:04 | 0:17:05 | |
I don't know. | 0:17:08 | 0:17:09 | |
There is a problem with demand and supply of family homes. | 0:17:11 | 0:17:14 | |
We don't have enough properties and the biggest demand on our properties | 0:17:14 | 0:17:17 | |
are on our two, three and four-bedroomed properties. | 0:17:17 | 0:17:20 | |
Once families move in, they tend to stay, | 0:17:20 | 0:17:23 | |
and they can stay for as long as they like, | 0:17:23 | 0:17:25 | |
we don't force people to move on. | 0:17:25 | 0:17:27 | |
We have an ageing population so you can end up with elderly people | 0:17:27 | 0:17:30 | |
living in family accommodation and taking that up. | 0:17:30 | 0:17:34 | |
We also have a growing population, which has added to the problems | 0:17:34 | 0:17:39 | |
and we just can't build enough properties to meet our demand. | 0:17:39 | 0:17:43 | |
Government legislation ensures that housing associations | 0:17:45 | 0:17:50 | |
should keep their homes safe and up-to-date. | 0:17:50 | 0:17:53 | |
In Ashton-under-Lyne, a former mill holding 159 flats | 0:17:53 | 0:17:57 | |
is having new heating. | 0:17:57 | 0:17:59 | |
But one 80-year-old man is holding up the process. | 0:17:59 | 0:18:03 | |
Housing officer Lyndon Pugh is visiting the reclusive tenant, | 0:18:04 | 0:18:08 | |
Gerard, who has a problem with hoarding. | 0:18:08 | 0:18:10 | |
The problem we've got at the moment is all this stuff in your flat. | 0:18:15 | 0:18:19 | |
We've not got much area to work within. | 0:18:19 | 0:18:23 | |
I don't know what I've got, to be quite honest. It needs sorting. | 0:18:23 | 0:18:26 | |
If you see where your heaters are at the moment, | 0:18:26 | 0:18:29 | |
the contractors are going to need access. | 0:18:29 | 0:18:31 | |
-There's one here and there's one on the wall. -There's one there, there's one in the wall. | 0:18:31 | 0:18:36 | |
-On the left, on the right-hand side. -Yeah, yeah. Clear. | 0:18:36 | 0:18:39 | |
As Lyndon starts to examine the flat, there's another issue. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:43 | |
But these are a bit close to this heater, here, | 0:18:43 | 0:18:46 | |
so we need to move those away from the heater. | 0:18:46 | 0:18:49 | |
What are all these newspapers for, are they...? | 0:18:49 | 0:18:51 | |
No, I was going to throw them out, wasn't I? | 0:18:51 | 0:18:53 | |
I was looking for something. | 0:18:53 | 0:18:54 | |
If you were to have a fire in here there's a lot of paper, | 0:18:54 | 0:18:57 | |
there's a lot of boxes and things that, you know, could catch alight. | 0:18:57 | 0:19:01 | |
Right, can we go through to your bedroom? | 0:19:01 | 0:19:05 | |
Just get past you again. | 0:19:05 | 0:19:08 | |
You have got quite a lot of stuff in here, haven't you? | 0:19:08 | 0:19:11 | |
And you can't use it as a bedroom | 0:19:11 | 0:19:13 | |
because of all the stuff that you've got in here. | 0:19:13 | 0:19:16 | |
-Cos you've... Is your bed under there? -Yeah. -Right. | 0:19:16 | 0:19:19 | |
Right, let me just have a look in your bathroom. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:22 | |
Bloody hell. | 0:19:24 | 0:19:25 | |
How are you in terms of washing at the moment? How do you have a wash? | 0:19:26 | 0:19:30 | |
-Oh, I can use it here. -Do you use the sink? -Yeah. | 0:19:30 | 0:19:32 | |
We do home fire risk assessment, with all our tenants | 0:19:33 | 0:19:36 | |
to make sure the properties are safe to live in. | 0:19:36 | 0:19:39 | |
Yours, at the moment, being cluttered, | 0:19:39 | 0:19:42 | |
is putting yourself and your neighbours at risk, | 0:19:42 | 0:19:45 | |
so that's why we need to make sure that we get everything in order | 0:19:45 | 0:19:49 | |
and again, you know, it'll help you to live better. | 0:19:49 | 0:19:52 | |
All right, so you take care. OK? | 0:19:52 | 0:19:55 | |
Lyndon will need to work carefully with Gerard | 0:19:55 | 0:19:58 | |
so they can get to a point where the contractors | 0:19:58 | 0:20:00 | |
can install his new heating system. | 0:20:00 | 0:20:03 | |
-See you again. -See you. | 0:20:03 | 0:20:05 | |
Gerard has been living alone for 18 years. | 0:20:07 | 0:20:10 | |
When his parents died, he inherited all their belongings. | 0:20:10 | 0:20:14 | |
Look, what's in that one? | 0:20:18 | 0:20:20 | |
I haven't got a clue what's in there! | 0:20:20 | 0:20:22 | |
That's not mine, that's my father's, that. | 0:20:28 | 0:20:30 | |
I can tell you that cos I haven't wear... That's my father's. | 0:20:30 | 0:20:34 | |
There's me dad. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:36 | |
If they saw how I was living, me father would... He'd go mad. | 0:20:36 | 0:20:39 | |
But me mother would - I know she would. | 0:20:39 | 0:20:42 | |
She'd, she'd go... Well, she'd go mad. | 0:20:42 | 0:20:45 | |
Gerard's mother was a strict Christian | 0:20:46 | 0:20:49 | |
and often donated the family's possessions to those in need. | 0:20:49 | 0:20:52 | |
Even when I was a youngster, you know, toys and that, they'd go. | 0:20:52 | 0:20:56 | |
I'd have nothing. She'd just give them away. | 0:20:56 | 0:20:59 | |
She'd do it with your shoes as well and, you know, | 0:20:59 | 0:21:02 | |
there wouldn't be any there. | 0:21:02 | 0:21:04 | |
So now Gerard keeps almost everything. | 0:21:04 | 0:21:08 | |
In Stalybridge it's 10pm, | 0:21:22 | 0:21:25 | |
and the housing association's warnings to Stephen are having no effect. | 0:21:25 | 0:21:29 | |
His neighbour, Thomas, is having another sleepless night. | 0:21:29 | 0:21:33 | |
BASS RUMBLES | 0:21:33 | 0:21:35 | |
I can't stand him any more. Either he goes or I go. | 0:21:35 | 0:21:38 | |
It's got to be... It's got to be one way or another, | 0:21:38 | 0:21:41 | |
but I'm here at my flat, I've been here 20 years | 0:21:41 | 0:21:45 | |
and I don't want to be driven out. | 0:21:45 | 0:21:47 | |
Hello? Gordon? | 0:21:50 | 0:21:53 | |
-'Yeah.' -Yeah, I'll let you in. | 0:21:53 | 0:21:55 | |
ENTRY PHONE BEEPS | 0:21:55 | 0:21:56 | |
Gordon lives 20 metres away and is also fed up with the noise. | 0:21:57 | 0:22:02 | |
MUSIC BLARES | 0:22:02 | 0:22:05 | |
-Oh, my God. -Terrible isn't it? | 0:22:06 | 0:22:09 | |
I know, I've just been on the phone now. | 0:22:09 | 0:22:11 | |
That's been half six, half past ten now. | 0:22:11 | 0:22:13 | |
Well, we've just got back from Scotland, | 0:22:13 | 0:22:15 | |
just pulled up, heard this noise. | 0:22:15 | 0:22:17 | |
I mean, nobody can go to sleep with this noise, can they? | 0:22:17 | 0:22:19 | |
Bloody ridiculous, isn't it? | 0:22:19 | 0:22:22 | |
I can't do any more than what I'm doing at the moment. | 0:22:22 | 0:22:26 | |
-No, I know you can't. -I can't go any further. | 0:22:26 | 0:22:28 | |
None of us can go any further. | 0:22:28 | 0:22:29 | |
If it goes on much longer, we're banging on his ruddy door. | 0:22:29 | 0:22:33 | |
Right. | 0:22:33 | 0:22:34 | |
So I'll come back and give you... See you afterwards, all right? | 0:22:34 | 0:22:37 | |
-OK, I'll see you later. -Thank you very much indeed. | 0:22:37 | 0:22:40 | |
MUSIC BLARES | 0:22:40 | 0:22:41 | |
Listen to this bloody lot out here, eh? | 0:22:41 | 0:22:44 | |
MUSIC STOPS | 0:22:53 | 0:22:55 | |
Five past 11. | 0:22:55 | 0:22:56 | |
MUSIC BLARES Ooh, I was just going to say then, | 0:22:56 | 0:22:59 | |
we might be getting a little bit of a lull, but not much chance. | 0:22:59 | 0:23:03 | |
PARTY-GOERS SHOUT | 0:23:04 | 0:23:07 | |
They've now started to argue. | 0:23:11 | 0:23:13 | |
Quite loudly. | 0:23:15 | 0:23:17 | |
Following the recent incidents, Ivan is collecting the evidence | 0:23:26 | 0:23:30 | |
from the sound-recording equipment at Tom's flat. | 0:23:30 | 0:23:33 | |
What I plan to do is I'll swap the DVR over, | 0:23:33 | 0:23:37 | |
for once I can get those recordings off there. | 0:23:37 | 0:23:39 | |
But for now I just need to get some details, really. | 0:23:39 | 0:23:43 | |
Just about, you know, how it's affecting you. | 0:23:43 | 0:23:46 | |
Extremely depressed, | 0:23:46 | 0:23:49 | |
er...not feeling well at all, | 0:23:49 | 0:23:52 | |
and when it's quiet, I seem to feel it more | 0:23:52 | 0:23:58 | |
because I'm ready for anything else that's going to happen. | 0:23:58 | 0:24:04 | |
And these incidents don't happen only in the evening - | 0:24:04 | 0:24:09 | |
sometimes they can go on well past midnight. | 0:24:09 | 0:24:12 | |
Yeah, yeah. I'll do everything that we can to get him to stop. | 0:24:12 | 0:24:17 | |
I'll then take that to our legal department | 0:24:17 | 0:24:19 | |
to see what legal action we can take following this. | 0:24:19 | 0:24:23 | |
Because we've got a number of residents | 0:24:24 | 0:24:26 | |
that are happy to give evidence for us, | 0:24:26 | 0:24:28 | |
to say what they've been exposed to... | 0:24:28 | 0:24:31 | |
..and the effects, unfortunately, that it's having on the resident above, | 0:24:33 | 0:24:37 | |
I think we've got a very strong case to get a civil injunction, | 0:24:37 | 0:24:40 | |
potentially with a power of arrest attached to it | 0:24:40 | 0:24:43 | |
because of the mental damage it's doing to the chap above. | 0:24:43 | 0:24:47 | |
But, two days later, | 0:24:48 | 0:24:50 | |
before Ivan has the chance to get the injunction issued, | 0:24:50 | 0:24:52 | |
Stephen is partying again. | 0:24:52 | 0:24:55 | |
MUSIC: "Never Have To Be Alone" by Ultrabeat | 0:24:55 | 0:24:57 | |
# So full of sparkle and such light | 0:24:57 | 0:25:01 | |
# Let me remind | 0:25:01 | 0:25:04 | |
-# You'll never have to be alone -Never, ever be alone... # | 0:25:05 | 0:25:09 | |
MUSIC BLARES | 0:25:09 | 0:25:12 | |
# Never have to be alone... # | 0:25:12 | 0:25:16 | |
He's got worse lately. | 0:25:16 | 0:25:19 | |
It's been happening again, but he's gone worse. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:22 | |
# Never have to be alone... # | 0:25:25 | 0:25:29 | |
In 2011, housing associations in England | 0:25:32 | 0:25:36 | |
built fewer than 40,000 new homes. | 0:25:36 | 0:25:39 | |
One home for every 45 households on the waiting list. | 0:25:39 | 0:25:44 | |
In Hyde, Vicky and her children are desperate for a home. | 0:25:45 | 0:25:49 | |
They've now been staying with her parents | 0:25:49 | 0:25:51 | |
in their one-bed flat for nine weeks. | 0:25:51 | 0:25:54 | |
In Vicky's housing association, | 0:25:55 | 0:25:57 | |
they have completed the weekly allocation of homes. | 0:25:57 | 0:26:00 | |
Unfortunately, Vicky, I've got a bit of bad news | 0:26:00 | 0:26:02 | |
about the properties that you were bidding on. | 0:26:02 | 0:26:04 | |
The tenant of that property gave us the tenancy, | 0:26:04 | 0:26:06 | |
but now she's decided to retract it. | 0:26:06 | 0:26:10 | |
Right. I checked first thing for you and there's no three-bedroom houses. | 0:26:10 | 0:26:14 | |
Keep in touch with me, I'm always here if you need a bit of advice | 0:26:14 | 0:26:18 | |
or a chat, just give me a call. | 0:26:18 | 0:26:20 | |
All right then, see you, love. Bye-bye, now. Bye. | 0:26:20 | 0:26:24 | |
Vicky's in a situation where she might not... | 0:26:24 | 0:26:26 | |
There might not be a three-bedroom property come back in the areas | 0:26:26 | 0:26:29 | |
that she's bidding on for quite a while. | 0:26:29 | 0:26:31 | |
And I do feel for her, you know, like, having a daughter and a son | 0:26:31 | 0:26:34 | |
sleeping on an airbed, especially at this time of the year, | 0:26:34 | 0:26:37 | |
but the good thing that Vicky's done is widen her choice of areas. | 0:26:37 | 0:26:41 | |
She's not just bidding on Denton now, | 0:26:41 | 0:26:43 | |
she's bidding on surrounding areas, | 0:26:43 | 0:26:45 | |
so that in itself gives her a better chance. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:47 | |
Vicky has been forced to look for a home | 0:26:49 | 0:26:51 | |
further and further from her mum and dad and Sasha's school. | 0:26:51 | 0:26:55 | |
I've had to go further afield than what I wanted | 0:26:55 | 0:26:58 | |
because there's so little three-bedrooms coming available to actually bid on, | 0:26:58 | 0:27:03 | |
so, yeah, I've had to broaden my horizons at bit. | 0:27:03 | 0:27:06 | |
But I've bidded on the property, new development one, in Ashton. | 0:27:06 | 0:27:11 | |
Three bed, which is what I need. | 0:27:11 | 0:27:13 | |
So just...fingers crossed. Just sit and wait and see what happens. | 0:27:13 | 0:27:18 | |
But Vicky is concerned that living in a different town | 0:27:19 | 0:27:23 | |
would prove an added pressure for the family. | 0:27:23 | 0:27:25 | |
Knowing Sasha's got to go further afield, it worries me | 0:27:25 | 0:27:28 | |
that I'll end up taking her to school, meeting her after school. | 0:27:28 | 0:27:32 | |
I just keep waiting for Wednesdays to come to see what there is | 0:27:34 | 0:27:37 | |
and then once there isn't nothing, | 0:27:37 | 0:27:39 | |
that's another full week of waiting, hoping, and if there's nothing again, | 0:27:39 | 0:27:43 | |
you just keep getting dropped back down to square one. | 0:27:43 | 0:27:46 | |
# Jingle bells, jingle bells... # | 0:27:46 | 0:27:50 | |
In the centre of Ashton, Lyndon is checking on Gerard. | 0:27:58 | 0:28:01 | |
Hello, Gerard. How are you doing? | 0:28:03 | 0:28:06 | |
He's hoping to encourage him to remove some of his clutter, | 0:28:06 | 0:28:09 | |
ready for essential updating in the flat. | 0:28:09 | 0:28:12 | |
Right, let's have a look. | 0:28:12 | 0:28:15 | |
Gerard clearly needs help and support, | 0:28:15 | 0:28:17 | |
but it's a delicate situation and Lyndon will have to tread carefully. | 0:28:17 | 0:28:22 | |
-What's that there, Lyndon, there? -Where? Where are we looking? | 0:28:22 | 0:28:25 | |
-No, next to the bag? -This? | 0:28:25 | 0:28:27 | |
-No. -This? -Come down, come down. | 0:28:27 | 0:28:29 | |
-That? -No come down again. | 0:28:29 | 0:28:31 | |
-That? -No, next to it. | 0:28:31 | 0:28:33 | |
-This? -No, with the wire... Oh, it's the iron, isn't it? | 0:28:33 | 0:28:36 | |
-It's the iron. -Oh, ah. -Eh? -Yeah. | 0:28:36 | 0:28:38 | |
What about this fan? This looks really old. | 0:28:38 | 0:28:40 | |
-Yeah, it works, that. -That works? -Yeah, no problems with it. | 0:28:40 | 0:28:44 | |
In your kitchen now, this is quite cluttered at the moment. | 0:28:44 | 0:28:47 | |
I think that's congealed, that Cif. It's solid hard, by the look of it. | 0:28:47 | 0:28:51 | |
No, it's still good, it's just the top. I can use that. | 0:28:51 | 0:28:54 | |
-You can use that? -Clear the top out. | 0:28:54 | 0:28:56 | |
-Lime juice? -There's some there. | 0:28:56 | 0:28:58 | |
-There's some in there. -Yeah, I still use it. | 0:28:58 | 0:29:01 | |
May 2011. | 0:29:01 | 0:29:02 | |
And tins have quite a lengthy lifespan, but these have expired. | 0:29:02 | 0:29:07 | |
Rice pudding, February 1999. Before the millennium. | 0:29:07 | 0:29:11 | |
The build-up of clutter has meant Gerard cannot use his bed. | 0:29:12 | 0:29:17 | |
It's all underneath there. The bed. | 0:29:17 | 0:29:21 | |
It's all underneath there and it's that way. | 0:29:21 | 0:29:24 | |
And I sleep on there, on the air bed, there. | 0:29:24 | 0:29:28 | |
I've been there now since about four year. | 0:29:28 | 0:29:30 | |
At the moment, you can't use your bed in your bedroom | 0:29:31 | 0:29:34 | |
cos of all your stuff, so we need to get those two rooms | 0:29:34 | 0:29:37 | |
back in operation, because it's no good you sleeping on the floor | 0:29:37 | 0:29:41 | |
-in your living room, is it? -No. -No. | 0:29:41 | 0:29:44 | |
I don't think you're going to be able to move all this on your own | 0:29:44 | 0:29:48 | |
cos there's a lot of stuff. It's a tall order for any fit person. | 0:29:48 | 0:29:51 | |
How would you feel if I referred you free for some support? | 0:29:51 | 0:29:55 | |
Then they can either help you or point you in the right direction, | 0:29:55 | 0:29:59 | |
-so how would you feel about that? -Yeah. | 0:29:59 | 0:30:02 | |
Yeah? So if I make a referral and we'll be able to, I'm sure, | 0:30:02 | 0:30:05 | |
give you some assistance with, you know, | 0:30:05 | 0:30:08 | |
sorting your flat out and things. | 0:30:08 | 0:30:10 | |
Lyndon's housing association has recently seen | 0:30:10 | 0:30:12 | |
a significant rise in tenants whose collecting gets out of control. | 0:30:12 | 0:30:16 | |
Out of my teams, we have about five or six cases at any one time | 0:30:16 | 0:30:21 | |
and they are very difficult to resolve | 0:30:21 | 0:30:23 | |
because it's taken years and years of time and effort | 0:30:23 | 0:30:28 | |
for some of our tenants to collect all this material, | 0:30:28 | 0:30:32 | |
whether that's papers, items of furniture, whatever it may be, | 0:30:32 | 0:30:37 | |
and that's going to take us years and years | 0:30:37 | 0:30:39 | |
to try and change that type of behaviour, and often | 0:30:39 | 0:30:41 | |
we're never going to be able to resolve that type of behaviour. | 0:30:41 | 0:30:45 | |
This morning, Stephen is visiting his elderly mother. | 0:30:47 | 0:30:50 | |
No matter what happens, Beryl is always there for him. | 0:31:01 | 0:31:05 | |
Sometimes I'll give him a couple of tins of something. | 0:31:05 | 0:31:09 | |
Corned beef or baked beans or anything that can make a meal. | 0:31:09 | 0:31:14 | |
Underneath it all, there's a good lad, | 0:31:15 | 0:31:18 | |
and we used to say, "You'll break somebody's heart one day," | 0:31:18 | 0:31:22 | |
not realising it'd be mine. | 0:31:22 | 0:31:24 | |
What you on about, me breaking your heart at some point? | 0:31:24 | 0:31:27 | |
First one of t'day, first of many, usually. | 0:31:30 | 0:31:34 | |
There's no light at the end of the tunnel, Stephen, | 0:31:34 | 0:31:37 | |
so what I do, how much I lend you, sort you out, | 0:31:37 | 0:31:41 | |
-I've paid your bills, haven't I? -Yes. -Well, at 73, I don't want this. | 0:31:41 | 0:31:46 | |
I should be having peace of mind now, not all this aggro. | 0:31:46 | 0:31:50 | |
That's a pound. There you are, Stephen. | 0:31:57 | 0:31:59 | |
Make that the last today. | 0:32:01 | 0:32:03 | |
Ta, love. | 0:32:03 | 0:32:05 | |
The injunction to curb Stephen's partying | 0:32:07 | 0:32:09 | |
has now been presented to court | 0:32:09 | 0:32:11 | |
and Ivan needs to serve the papers in person. | 0:32:11 | 0:32:14 | |
I want respite for the neighbours as soon as possible, | 0:32:14 | 0:32:18 | |
and there's a weekend, you know, looming | 0:32:18 | 0:32:21 | |
and if he doesn't get served, then there's every possibility | 0:32:21 | 0:32:25 | |
that the date for court will get moved, | 0:32:25 | 0:32:27 | |
which means we won't get the injunction, | 0:32:27 | 0:32:29 | |
which means ultimately the neighbours will have to endure | 0:32:29 | 0:32:33 | |
what they've had to endure for a long time now. | 0:32:33 | 0:32:36 | |
-Ivan's tracked him down to his mother's. -We're here. | 0:32:36 | 0:32:38 | |
We've come... We're going to court on Friday to get a civil injunction. | 0:32:52 | 0:32:56 | |
Right. | 0:32:56 | 0:32:57 | |
So it's an order from a civil judge which would say, | 0:32:57 | 0:32:59 | |
if granted on Friday, that you're not allowed to do certain things. | 0:32:59 | 0:33:05 | |
Similar to your tenancy agreement. | 0:33:06 | 0:33:08 | |
I'm trying to get this back in order. | 0:33:08 | 0:33:10 | |
If you do do those things, then you'll be seen | 0:33:10 | 0:33:13 | |
as being in contempt of court, and that judge can then sentence you | 0:33:13 | 0:33:16 | |
to up to two years in prison as a result of breaching his rules. | 0:33:16 | 0:33:18 | |
Yeah, I'll do it. I'll do it, yeah, two years is a nightmare. | 0:33:18 | 0:33:22 | |
So the conditions there are about noise, nuisance, causing harm and stress, | 0:33:22 | 0:33:25 | |
but also it's about the number of visitors you have at your property. | 0:33:25 | 0:33:28 | |
You're no longer allowed more than two visitors to your property. | 0:33:28 | 0:33:31 | |
Oh. Um... | 0:33:31 | 0:33:33 | |
They've all started staying away anyway. | 0:33:33 | 0:33:35 | |
That wasn't the case yesterday. I was there, | 0:33:35 | 0:33:37 | |
there were three guys there yesterday and you weren't there | 0:33:37 | 0:33:40 | |
and they were letting themselves in and out of a door you'd left unlocked, so that's not the case. | 0:33:40 | 0:33:44 | |
There's no key. I've lost the keys. | 0:33:44 | 0:33:46 | |
I've told you before, you need to change those locks. | 0:33:46 | 0:33:48 | |
Me mate said he had a barrel for me. | 0:33:48 | 0:33:50 | |
Well, get on it, cos it's very important. | 0:33:50 | 0:33:52 | |
Is that all of it? Do you need your PE kit doing? | 0:33:58 | 0:34:01 | |
No, you did that the other day. | 0:34:01 | 0:34:02 | |
My blazer's in my bag. | 0:34:02 | 0:34:04 | |
It's now four months since Vicky and her children | 0:34:04 | 0:34:07 | |
started sleeping on the floor of her parents' flat. | 0:34:07 | 0:34:10 | |
Although she would be happy with a two-bed home, | 0:34:10 | 0:34:13 | |
regulations mean she can only apply for a rare three-bed house. | 0:34:13 | 0:34:17 | |
So far, she's been unsuccessful. | 0:34:17 | 0:34:20 | |
For the last few days, Rita has been struggling to contact Vicky. | 0:34:26 | 0:34:32 | |
PHONE RINGS | 0:34:32 | 0:34:34 | |
'Hello?' | 0:34:35 | 0:34:36 | |
-Hiya, Vicky, it's Rita. -'Hiya.' | 0:34:36 | 0:34:38 | |
How are you? I've been trying so hard to get hold of you lately. | 0:34:38 | 0:34:42 | |
'I know, yeah.' | 0:34:42 | 0:34:43 | |
I've been trying to give you some good news. | 0:34:43 | 0:34:45 | |
You've been matched up to the three-bedroom house, | 0:34:45 | 0:34:48 | |
you know, that you were asking me about. | 0:34:48 | 0:34:50 | |
'Yeah, yeah. Well, the thing is, I was looking at a private rented one. | 0:34:50 | 0:34:54 | |
'Now, the thing is, the one with the private one, | 0:34:54 | 0:34:56 | |
'they've also offered me mum and dad one next door to the same house, | 0:34:56 | 0:34:59 | |
'so I think I'll be taking that one, | 0:34:59 | 0:35:01 | |
'so I'm not too far away from them in case they need me.' | 0:35:01 | 0:35:05 | |
Right. You are aware though, Vicky, | 0:35:05 | 0:35:07 | |
you know with the private rented accommodation, | 0:35:07 | 0:35:10 | |
you've not got a secure tenancy there, | 0:35:10 | 0:35:12 | |
and if you were to decide that, you know, it wasn't for you, | 0:35:12 | 0:35:15 | |
-private renting, and you come back on our waiting list... -'Yeah.' | 0:35:15 | 0:35:19 | |
..it'd be very unlikely you'd be matched to a property | 0:35:19 | 0:35:21 | |
because you were adequately housed in our eyes then. | 0:35:21 | 0:35:23 | |
'Yeah, yeah, I know that.' | 0:35:23 | 0:35:25 | |
So I want to make sure that you're 100% positive | 0:35:25 | 0:35:27 | |
that you want to go down the private and rented sector. | 0:35:27 | 0:35:30 | |
-Yeah, yeah. -So shall I just close your application down then | 0:35:30 | 0:35:34 | |
and say you, you know, you've found housing elsewhere? | 0:35:34 | 0:35:37 | |
'Yeah, I think it's best, so nobody else is hanging around, | 0:35:37 | 0:35:40 | |
'you know, who needs the houses.' | 0:35:40 | 0:35:42 | |
-Right. -'You know, who's next in line, | 0:35:42 | 0:35:43 | |
'but I do appreciate everything you've done for me, I do. | 0:35:43 | 0:35:47 | |
'With not being able to drive and stuff, | 0:35:47 | 0:35:49 | |
'I've got the chance of being next door | 0:35:49 | 0:35:51 | |
'so I would prefer to do that so that I'm near them as well.' | 0:35:51 | 0:35:53 | |
-All right, then. -'All right, thank you, bye.' | 0:35:53 | 0:35:56 | |
The decision to take a privately rented house | 0:35:59 | 0:36:02 | |
was difficult for Vicky. | 0:36:02 | 0:36:03 | |
-Now don't eat them all. -I'm not! | 0:36:04 | 0:36:06 | |
I know what you're like, I need to put padlocks on the cupboards. | 0:36:06 | 0:36:10 | |
It was a couple of days before we had to sign for this, so she just sat there, thinking and thinking. | 0:36:10 | 0:36:15 | |
Situation of not knowing what to do and I thought | 0:36:15 | 0:36:17 | |
one minute I haven't got anything and the next minute I've got to choose and it was just really hard. | 0:36:17 | 0:36:21 | |
I was trying to please everybody, just make sure everybody's happy | 0:36:21 | 0:36:25 | |
and I think I've made the right choice to make sure that everybody's happy, anyway. | 0:36:25 | 0:36:28 | |
The privately rented house is close to Sasha's school | 0:36:28 | 0:36:32 | |
and right next door to her mum and dad. | 0:36:32 | 0:36:34 | |
Got to think of the kids as well as me mum and dad, do you know? | 0:36:34 | 0:36:37 | |
I don't what to be dragging them around | 0:36:37 | 0:36:39 | |
while I'm trying to look after me mum and dad, | 0:36:39 | 0:36:41 | |
it's just so much easier the way that it is now, with them just being next door. | 0:36:41 | 0:36:45 | |
Yeah, this is mine and Leyton's bedroom. | 0:36:45 | 0:36:47 | |
We've just got our own space. Getting decent sleep. | 0:36:49 | 0:36:53 | |
I've had a couple of my friends staying over, | 0:36:55 | 0:36:57 | |
and they'll come round and it's just... | 0:36:57 | 0:36:59 | |
It's better cos I can have more friendly time, | 0:36:59 | 0:37:01 | |
because, like, I can have my own little time upstairs | 0:37:01 | 0:37:04 | |
instead of, like, everyone running around and it all being hectic. | 0:37:04 | 0:37:08 | |
In Ashton, Lyndon has referred Gerard for extra support | 0:37:15 | 0:37:18 | |
and, with his cooperation, they're planning a dramatic approach. | 0:37:18 | 0:37:22 | |
I need help and support, you know, to get rid of the stuff. | 0:37:22 | 0:37:26 | |
Gerard's support workers have organised a big clear out. | 0:37:26 | 0:37:31 | |
Some of the stuff's got to go, ain't it? | 0:37:31 | 0:37:32 | |
Some of the stuff is just complete rubbish | 0:37:32 | 0:37:35 | |
as far as I'm concerned, but all me clothing - | 0:37:35 | 0:37:37 | |
I've got clothes of clothing that needs to be washed, | 0:37:37 | 0:37:39 | |
you with me? I don't even know... I bet, I've got somewhere... | 0:37:39 | 0:37:42 | |
There's a coat and I think it's in the... | 0:37:42 | 0:37:44 | |
Me mother had a fur coat and that's still there, | 0:37:44 | 0:37:48 | |
and I seal it all up in bags, you with me? | 0:37:48 | 0:37:49 | |
Are you going to keep all those clothes that...? | 0:37:49 | 0:37:52 | |
Well, those... Well, I can't wear a fur coat, can I? | 0:37:52 | 0:37:55 | |
I don't know what I'm going to do with that. | 0:37:56 | 0:37:58 | |
Second floor? | 0:38:01 | 0:38:02 | |
To create living space, the team will remove | 0:38:05 | 0:38:07 | |
many of the items Gerard's held on to for years. | 0:38:07 | 0:38:10 | |
Have you seen the rubbish that's in there? | 0:38:12 | 0:38:15 | |
One of Gerard's support workers, Margaret, is leading the clear-out. | 0:38:15 | 0:38:20 | |
Well, what we'll do... What they said they'd do is clear it | 0:38:20 | 0:38:22 | |
and then we can always reintroduce it back in, what you need, is that OK? | 0:38:22 | 0:38:26 | |
-Yeah. -All right then. | 0:38:26 | 0:38:28 | |
Now, we've cleared this of pretty much everything except rubbish, | 0:38:34 | 0:38:37 | |
-which we'll put in a bag and take with us. -OK. | 0:38:37 | 0:38:39 | |
-That's me mother's. -Is it? | 0:38:43 | 0:38:45 | |
Yeah. I didn't wear them. | 0:38:45 | 0:38:47 | |
Is there something in it, was there a photograph? | 0:38:47 | 0:38:49 | |
Is a stamp. It's an old stamp. | 0:38:51 | 0:38:53 | |
There is a fine line between trying to enforce support on to people, | 0:39:00 | 0:39:04 | |
because ultimately, you know, they have a choice, | 0:39:04 | 0:39:07 | |
they don't have to accept our help and support and guidance, | 0:39:07 | 0:39:10 | |
and quite often there's times when people say no. | 0:39:10 | 0:39:13 | |
They don't want... They just won't open the door to us. | 0:39:13 | 0:39:16 | |
But our job is to build that trust and spend the time | 0:39:16 | 0:39:18 | |
trying to build that relationship with the tenant and their household, | 0:39:18 | 0:39:21 | |
so that we can make a difference | 0:39:21 | 0:39:23 | |
and try and turn that situation around. | 0:39:23 | 0:39:25 | |
The clearance of Gerard's flat has finished and Lyndon is checking | 0:39:26 | 0:39:30 | |
if the heating contractors can now begin work. | 0:39:30 | 0:39:33 | |
Well, this area's a real big improvement | 0:39:33 | 0:39:35 | |
because you can noticeably see as you walk in, you know, | 0:39:35 | 0:39:39 | |
it's pretty much clear, isn't it? | 0:39:39 | 0:39:41 | |
And, you know, like, there's a lot of progress been made | 0:39:41 | 0:39:44 | |
because, as I say, now this area, for the most part, is totally clear | 0:39:44 | 0:39:48 | |
and there's a lot of items gone through this middle part of your living room. | 0:39:48 | 0:39:52 | |
Yeah, so there is real progress | 0:39:52 | 0:39:54 | |
in terms of we'll be able to now access putting your heating in. | 0:39:54 | 0:39:59 | |
-Was you here when I was looking for me shoes? Couldn't find them! -Right. | 0:39:59 | 0:40:02 | |
And they, anyway, and what they'd done, | 0:40:02 | 0:40:05 | |
they'd put them in that bottom drawer. | 0:40:05 | 0:40:07 | |
Right, so they'd put them away for you. | 0:40:07 | 0:40:09 | |
So it's... Ooh. | 0:40:10 | 0:40:13 | |
Real big improvement, isn't it? I can see your bed now. | 0:40:13 | 0:40:16 | |
Yeah, you might... You might need probably a new mattress | 0:40:17 | 0:40:20 | |
cos it'd be nice for you | 0:40:20 | 0:40:23 | |
to start using this room again as your bedroom. | 0:40:23 | 0:40:26 | |
I'm sure you're sick of lying on the floor, aren't you? | 0:40:26 | 0:40:29 | |
Well, he is starting to do a few odd jobs in the house | 0:40:29 | 0:40:33 | |
and he's also, you know, clearing through some of the items himself | 0:40:33 | 0:40:37 | |
and I think underneath he can see progress and there's signs | 0:40:37 | 0:40:41 | |
that he does understand now that he needs to sort the issue out. | 0:40:41 | 0:40:44 | |
In Stalybridge, the police have been called to Stephen's flat. | 0:40:51 | 0:40:55 | |
Hello, Stephen? Hi, you all right? | 0:41:06 | 0:41:08 | |
It's the police, can we come in, please? | 0:41:08 | 0:41:10 | |
-You know this court injunction that was served 27th April? -Yeah. | 0:41:11 | 0:41:15 | |
That you're not allowed to have groups of people here | 0:41:15 | 0:41:18 | |
who play loud music and so on? Well, we've got four statements | 0:41:18 | 0:41:21 | |
to say that you've broken that injunction, so we're taking you in. | 0:41:21 | 0:41:24 | |
-Already? -Already, yeah. We'll show you the statements | 0:41:24 | 0:41:27 | |
when we get to the police station, OK? | 0:41:27 | 0:41:29 | |
Right, Stephen, up we get, mate. | 0:41:29 | 0:41:32 | |
Come round this way, mate. | 0:41:32 | 0:41:34 | |
-Let's go down the station and get you sorted out. -Yeah, come on then. | 0:41:34 | 0:41:37 | |
In the back, mate. | 0:41:37 | 0:41:40 | |
STEPHEN COUGHS HOARSELY | 0:41:40 | 0:41:42 | |
On top of being arrested, | 0:41:48 | 0:41:49 | |
there is now a real risk Stephen will lose his home. | 0:41:49 | 0:41:53 | |
I don't know what's going to happen if he's turned out of that flat. | 0:41:53 | 0:41:56 | |
I don't. | 0:41:57 | 0:41:59 | |
I suppose it'll be down to me | 0:41:59 | 0:42:01 | |
and then rest of t'family will fall out with me, then. | 0:42:01 | 0:42:04 | |
I'm between the devil and the deep blue sea, really. | 0:42:05 | 0:42:07 | |
Following the reduction in Gerard's clutter, | 0:42:12 | 0:42:15 | |
the contractors have been able to update his heating... | 0:42:15 | 0:42:19 | |
-Where are we going? -Just straight through here. It's easier going in the lift. | 0:42:20 | 0:42:24 | |
..and Lyndon has persuaded the housing association | 0:42:26 | 0:42:29 | |
to dip into the estate budget and replace Gerard's bed. | 0:42:29 | 0:42:33 | |
Wheels are at the bottom, so... | 0:42:33 | 0:42:35 | |
-That's it. -Yeah? -Yeah. | 0:42:39 | 0:42:40 | |
This is the first time I've made a tenant's bed | 0:42:40 | 0:42:43 | |
and I'm sure it won't be the last. | 0:42:43 | 0:42:45 | |
You know? | 0:42:45 | 0:42:46 | |
Do you want to test that now and just see what it's like? | 0:42:46 | 0:42:50 | |
I've still got my shoes on. | 0:42:50 | 0:42:52 | |
It'll be fine. Is that a bit more...? | 0:42:52 | 0:42:54 | |
-Yeah. Oh, yeah. -Yeah? | 0:42:54 | 0:42:57 | |
Yeah? | 0:42:59 | 0:43:01 | |
I could do with another pillow. | 0:43:01 | 0:43:03 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:43:39 | 0:43:43 |