'My kids beg not to go home': Wolverhampton mum speaks out over 'rat house' hell
The family have been struggling with the issue for more than half a decade.
A Wolverhampton mother says her family has been left “living in fear” after enduring a rat infestation and severe housing disrepair issues for more than five years.
Charley Cooper claims the problems began from the day she moved into her council property in 2021, and despite repeated complaints to housing officials, environmental health teams and her local MP, conditions have continued to deteriorate.
In a desperate attempt to highlight the severity of the issue, Ms Cooper said she once took a rat she had trapped inside her home to the Civic Centre and placed it on a desk while speaking to staff.
“She told me I couldn’t bring vermin in there,” Ms Cooper said. “I replied, ‘Yes, but you think it’s okay to have it in my house.’”
Speaking about her experience, Ms Cooper said: “From the day I moved in there was rat problems. I contacted Wolverhampton Homes regarding this matter and they sent out pest control at first, but then the visits became less and less and they became impossible to contact.”
She said a neighbour warned her shortly after moving in, telling her that “the council passed the house off even with visible rat droppings.”
According to Ms Cooper, pest control contractors later informed her there was “an active infestation amongst the four properties”.
The mother-of-two says the situation has had a major impact on her children’s wellbeing. Her six-year-old daughter and autistic three-year-old son are frightened to sleep in the property due to noises they hear at night.
“My six-year-old daughter begs me not to go home when she comes out of school,” she said. “When we stay at grandparents from Friday to Sunday, she doesn’t want to come back.”
Ms Cooper also described the effect the conditions have had on her own mental health, adding: “I ask them every single time, ‘Would you live in a house like this when you had two small children?’ They said, ‘No we wouldn’t.’ I said, ‘Well why am I being left to live like this then?’”
In addition to the reported rat infestation, Ms Cooper says the property suffers from damp in her daughter’s bedroom, damp beneath the living room floor following a leak several years ago, and cracks in an upstairs bedroom ceiling.
“There are cracks in the front bedroom where I can push the ceiling away from the wall,” she claimed.
Ms Cooper says she was taken to court by housing authorities in 2021 over unpaid rent and faced eviction proceedings. However, she claims the court ordered repairs to be addressed after evidence was presented regarding the condition of the home.
“The courts told Wolverhampton Homes they had three months to sort out any repairs,” she said. “But four years later nothing has changed.”
She also raised concerns over pest control charges, claiming residents are expected to pay £88 for an initial visit and £48 for follow-up appointments.
“When I said I shouldn’t have to pay because it isn’t my fault we are living in these conditions, I was told it’s the tenant’s problem to sort,” she said.
Ms Cooper argues the issues fall under landlord responsibilities outlined in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which requires landlords to keep properties in a reasonable state of repair.
At the time of publication, Wolverhampton Homes had not responded to requests for comment.
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