A resident said her life has been “destroyed” by a severe rat infestation at her home in Kidderminster.
After previously being homeless for five years, Lynn Atkinson thought finally having a home would be her chance to “start rebuilding her life”.
She has now been left feeling “stressed” and said the rat infestation at her home has “killed my spirit”.
The hole in the loft space (Image: Lynn Atkinson)
The 62-year-old said: “It’s destroyed me. I was homeless five years ago, and I really thought having a home would be my chance to start rebuilding my life. I’ve been able to decorate it and make it my own space.
“Now this has happened, it’s killed my spirit.”
Ms Atkinson said the problem started in November last year when the rats chewed through the wiring in her loft.
She claims she was left with no lighting for three months and was “quite shocked” when she was told it was rats.
Ms Atkinson, whose bungalow is owned by Community Housing, said: “The electrician told me how bad it was, which came as quite a shock. When a rat man was sent out, he said it was the worst case he’d ever seen.
“He believed the rats were coming from a neighbour’s garden and into my shed and home as there is a shared loft space.
“My neighbour is in his 70s and the rats have destroyed him too. Community Housing contractors came out and completely bulldozed his garden down to the bare dirt. They’ve left it in a state – it’s terrible.”
Ms Atkinson said during the saga, she also faced issues with trying to get someone from Community Housing to go up into her loft to have a look at the damage.
She said a representative told her if it was caused by rats then it would be her responsibility as it is not covered in the tenancy.
Ms Atkinson said: “I ended up having to go in the loft myself and I fell 9 ft through it.
“I’ve only just come out of hospital as I had a heart attack. I’m still having tests, but they think the rat dust has played a part, and I’ve now been left with severe respiratory problems.
“They carry all sorts of disease and infections, and when I fell from the loft, I was covered in rat dust and droppings. The rats have also destroyed my furniture, sofa, lino and clothes.”
Rat droppings and dust on the insulation (Image: Lynn Atkinson)
Ms Atkinson has raised concerns over how long the problem has been allowed to continue and said she has lodged four complaints with Community Housing.
She said: “They’ve logged all the complaints separately even though everything that’s happened is connected to the rats.
“Community Housing repaired my loft three weeks ago, and I am happy with the repair. I have now been told that rats are covered in my tenancy, but I shouldn’t have had to go through all of this for the past few months.
“There must be so many people out there like me who have nobody else to rely on, and I’m scared this could happen to someone else. I want to raise awareness about how we’ve been treated when rats are involved. I don’t want anyone else to go through what me and my neighbour have had to experience.”
A spokesperson for Community Housing said: “We recognise the distress this situation has caused to Ms Atkinson and although we followed our Tenancy Management process initially, we did arrange for specialist pest control to investigate and treat the source of the infestation which was not initially clear.
“This has included working with other agencies to address concerns relating to a neighbouring property. We will continue to work with Ms Atkinson and the relevant agencies to address the issues she has experienced.”
