Mum driven out of rat riddled flat after finding rodent on sofa

Charlotte Rea said she ‘had no choice’ but to move from her flat on Lyttleton Avenue and live at her mother’s home after countless complaints about the state of her living situation.

Mould, damp, ‘unsafe’ fire doors‘, drafty windows and a rodent infestation are just some of the issues that Charlotte and her two daughters have lived with.

Charlotte managed to trap a rat that was nesting in her sofa. (Image: Charlotte Rea.)

The block of flats on Lyttleton Avenue is managed by Bromsgrove District Housing Trust (bdht) which says they have been made aware of customers who have had various issues with their properties and have ongoing repairs with several customers in the flats.

Last August, Charlotte said she found a rat on her sofa which then buried its way into the lining where it nested for five days.

Charlotte found her cat playing with a baby rat in the kitchen. (Image: Charlotte Rea.)

Charlotte said bdht filled a hole in her bathroom where they believed the rodent had entered the flat.

However, since then she claims that she has found two more rats and two dead rats behind her washing machine.

Bdht filled in what they believed to be a hole where the rat entered the flat. (Image: Lucy-Ann Jones.)

One day, she said she found her pet cat playing with a rodent in the kitchen.

Charlotte, aged 28, said: “The whole flat just stunk like a barnyard, it was awful.

“I had to get a carpet cleaner in to try to get rid of the smell, but you can still smell it.”

In July, Charlotte’s two-year-old daughter managed to open the window in her bedroom and climb out as she claims the ‘windows didn’t lock properly’ and were ‘not child-proof’.

Since then, bdht has fitted new child safety locks on the windows but they are not ‘tightly screwed on’.

The kitchen door is hanging off its hinges. (Image: Lucy-Ann Jones.)

“The windows let so much cold air into the rooms, especially in the kid’s room – it’s freezing in there,” added Charlotte.

“I pay £250 per month for gas and electricity, and I am worried for the winter.”

Charlotte’s move has also been prompted by concerns over fire safety and feels ‘it’s not a safe place to live’.

“We have also been told that the fire safety rule is that you should stay in your flat and shut the door on the room where the fire is concealed it in one spot,” said Charlotte.

The windows now have child safety locks on them. (Image: Lucy-Ann Jones.)

“However, the fire doors in the flat are not safe, the fire would come underneath the door as there’s a massive gap.”

“They are also hanging off the hinges,”

Bdht say the chief executive, Graeme Anderson, called Charlotte on Monday, November 7 and wanted to see the issues in her property.

However, Charlotte declined as she felt ‘there was no point’ as ‘she was never going back’ and has accepted bdht’s offer of another flat in Bromsgrove.

A kitchen cupboard is broken. (Image: Charlotte Rea.)

Mr Anderson said the trust has ’ongoing repairs ‘with several customers in the block of flats on Lyttleton Avenue.

“We also dropped letters into all the homes last week, giving a central contact for our customers to communicate with and have since had one response which we have also addressed,” he added.

“The windows are on a programme to be replaced next year, and we have new processes to tackle damp and mould as quickly as possible.

“We absolutely understand that the cost-of-living crisis makes issues around heating the home more worrying, and we're working with partners to try and provide all the support we can.”