PLEASE READ THIS. My daughter and her family were told yesterday evening that they were lucky to be alive!This was because the private landlords central heating boiler was letting out carbon monoxide poisening. The accommodation in Rose Hill Oxford is emergency accommodation which The Vale Housing are responsible. My daughter and her husband and three children were made homeless one month ago. The only help they could get from The Vale Housing Abingdon was emergency housing in Blackbird Leys which was being let by a private landlord, this accommodation was totally unsuitable,urine /blood stained mattresses and lots more. Photos to prove. Then 13 June they were offered their present accommodation, which by now they were in no position to refuse, the first thing my son-law checked was the smoke alarms, non of which were working. then my daughter noticed a smell coming from the kitchen, yesterday Thursday 3 July when they arrived home there was a very bad smell, she called the emergency gas people and when the gas man checked the central heating boiler he told my daughter they were lucky to be alive and turned the gas off immediately. On Friday 4 July my daughter and her husband went to The Vale Housing in Abingdon and told them about the gas problem. The Vale housing told them there was not any available accommodation in Abingdon so arranged for the boiler to be cleaned, which was done. Now I am sorry to go on about this but I am very concerned about other families in this situation, that are not aware that they could be in danger from appliances that have not ben serviced or checked before they move into this type of accommodation surely these Landlords should not be allowed to do this, and the councils are not checking this out.How long before there is a real tragedy, it could have been my daughter and her family

Can we really believe that the Vale have NO emergency accommodation?? I suppose it's easier to just dump vulnerable people/families in Oxford - out of sight out of mind!!
Shame on the Vale Housing Office

Do you honestly believe a council to give a **** about the conditions these unfortunates find themselves in. It has nothing to do with their index linked pensions and expense accounts/claims so why be bothered.
Mr Cynical strikes again.

Give him a break,i am sure to him they were acceptable conditions to live in.

Quite right that Social Landlords shouldn't be letting out property where there is a carbon monoxide escape risk. They should be able to provide, when asked, the Landlord's Gas Safety certificate which is a legal requirement and this should be dated within the last 12 months. The appliances, by law, have to be checked every 12 months. In addition, while the property was empty, the smoke alarms functioning should have been checked and reported on- if faulty, they should have been replaced.
HOWEVER, they can only pick stuff up as faults when they are reported to them. The certificate is fine, but if the boiler starts to fail within that 12 months, they couldn't reasonably know. Therefore, ALL households should have a carbon monoxide detector - if not a battery operated one that emits an alarm, then a sensor dot that costs just a few pence.
There is only so much responsibility you can place on a landlord. People have a right to safe homes, but also have a responsibility to themselves, as all other households, (whether tenants, owners, squatters etc.) in this country have.

I would just like to add for the comment above
"if the boiler breaks down within 12 months". My daughter took photos of the boiler,before and after. It was due to be serviced last October, but was only checked if the boiler was working, it took the plumber 2 hours to clean the boiler and the gas fire out. As for the comment "Can we really believe the Vale has no emergency housing in Abingdon"try asking for yourself because I begged the Vale housing officer a few weeks ago to house my daughter her husband and three children, but I was told by the officer "I cannot just magic a house in Abingdon for your daughter and her family", but this is a subject that will be raised again and again very shortly. P.S. My son-law has bought a carbon monoxide detector.

K Meads wrote:
I would just like to add for the comment above \"if the boiler breaks down within 12 months\". My daughter took photos of the boiler,before and after. It was due to be serviced last October, but was only checked if the boiler was working, it took the plumber 2 hours to clean the boiler and the gas fire out. As for the comment \"Can we really believe the Vale has no emergency housing in Abingdon\"try asking for yourself because I begged the Vale housing officer a few weeks ago to house my daughter her husband and three children, but I was told by the officer \"I cannot just magic a house in Abingdon for your daughter and her family\", but this is a subject that will be raised again and again very shortly. P.S. My son-law has bought a carbon monoxide detector.

Why don't they get jobs and buy/rent their own house?

alan page wrote:

K Meads wrote:
I would just like to add for the comment above \"if the boiler breaks down within 12 months\". My daughter took photos of the boiler,before and after. It was due to be serviced last October, but was only checked if the boiler was working, it took the plumber 2 hours to clean the boiler and the gas fire out. As for the comment \"Can we really believe the Vale has no emergency housing in Abingdon\"try asking for yourself because I begged the Vale housing officer a few weeks ago to house my daughter her husband and three children, but I was told by the officer \"I cannot just magic a house in Abingdon for your daughter and her family\", but this is a subject that will be raised again and again very shortly. P.S. My son-law has bought a carbon monoxide detector.

Why don't they get jobs and buy/rent their own house?

Crikey, Alan - you're beginning to think rationally!

Why dont they get jobs and buy/rent their own house?
Both my daughter and son in law are in full time employment. They have done both the options in the above comment from Alan, the first option failed because my son in law was made redundant and struggled with low paid jobs to pay the mortgage, at that time my daughter held a part time job to fit in with the childrens schooling. The second option failed because my daughter and her family had to move 3 times in the last 18 months because the landlord sold the properties at the end of the contract.This made the children feel very unsettled. The Vale Housing has known about their situation now for over a year.As the state of the housing situation is at the moment, there will be a lot more people in the same position as my daughter and her family are. My original comment on this news story was with regard to unsafe houses being let by landlords. Surely with the amount of rent that is being paid £50 + a day, these landlords should be able to afford to get the properties appliances checked and tested to make them safe for the tenants.PS Alan being a council tenant doesn't mean that you have to be unemployed.

The Vale are using tax payers money to pay this landlord for an unsafe property surely they have to check the property out before allocating it to a family?? you obviously can't trust the landlord to do it. Earlier this week there was a report covering a landlord who had been fined for letting an unsafe property. Does this mean that Oxford city council can prosecute the Vale Council for putting this family in this position??

David wrote:

alan page wrote:

K Meads wrote: I would just like to add for the comment above \"if the boiler breaks down within 12 months\". My daughter took photos of the boiler,before and after. It was due to be serviced last October, but was only checked if the boiler was working, it took the plumber 2 hours to clean the boiler and the gas fire out. As for the comment \"Can we really believe the Vale has no emergency housing in Abingdon\"try asking for yourself because I begged the Vale housing officer a few weeks ago to house my daughter her husband and three children, but I was told by the officer \"I cannot just magic a house in Abingdon for your daughter and her family\", but this is a subject that will be raised again and again very shortly. P.S. My son-law has bought a carbon monoxide detector.

Why don't they get jobs and buy/rent their own house?

Crikey, Alan - you're beginning to think rationally!

Jobs/buy/rent!

Why we would be far worse off.

This is benefit paradise. Thank you Nu labour.

Why work. Live comfortably on the state.

Then of course; complain about the standard of accommodation.

B a l l s all.

The jobs are there. You just have to look!

Get a life in the real world.

Ref to Not K Meads Not Abingdon
I never even referred to my family as being unemployed. They are both in FULL time employment and if I could show the photos of the accommodation they are in at the moment, you would see why I am complaining, I am not living in it and I dont think ANYONE should have to be expected to live in such bad conditions i.e Rat poisening left in a kitchen cupboard, a kitchen drawer full of chewed up paper which could have only been Mice.The bathroom ceiling and wall thick with mould from condensation etc. etc. etc. etc.Please go back to my original comment. DOH!!

David wrote:

alan page wrote:

K Meads wrote: I would just like to add for the comment above \"if the boiler breaks down within 12 months\". My daughter took photos of the boiler,before and after. It was due to be serviced last October, but was only checked if the boiler was working, it took the plumber 2 hours to clean the boiler and the gas fire out. As for the comment \"Can we really believe the Vale has no emergency housing in Abingdon\"try asking for yourself because I begged the Vale housing officer a few weeks ago to house my daughter her husband and three children, but I was told by the officer \"I cannot just magic a house in Abingdon for your daughter and her family\", but this is a subject that will be raised again and again very shortly. P.S. My son-law has bought a carbon monoxide detector.

Why don't they get jobs and buy/rent their own house?

Crikey, Alan - you're beginning to think rationally!

Not me. I wouldn't give into you bastards that easily.

Alan Page wrote:

David wrote:

alan page wrote:

K Meads wrote: I would just like to add for the comment above \"if the boiler breaks down within 12 months\". My daughter took photos of the boiler,before and after. It was due to be serviced last October, but was only checked if the boiler was working, it took the plumber 2 hours to clean the boiler and the gas fire out. As for the comment \"Can we really believe the Vale has no emergency housing in Abingdon\"try asking for yourself because I begged the Vale housing officer a few weeks ago to house my daughter her husband and three children, but I was told by the officer \"I cannot just magic a house in Abingdon for your daughter and her family\", but this is a subject that will be raised again and again very shortly. P.S. My son-law has bought a carbon monoxide detector.

Why don't they get jobs and buy/rent their own house?

Crikey, Alan - you're beginning to think rationally!

Not me. I wouldn't give into you bastards that easily.

Did you know, Alan, everyone in prison is innocent and all mental patients are sane (according to the respective inmates, that is).

David wrote:

Alan Page wrote:

David wrote:

alan page wrote:

K Meads wrote: I would just like to add for the comment above \"if the boiler breaks down within 12 months\". My daughter took photos of the boiler,before and after. It was due to be serviced last October, but was only checked if the boiler was working, it took the plumber 2 hours to clean the boiler and the gas fire out. As for the comment \"Can we really believe the Vale has no emergency housing in Abingdon\"try asking for yourself because I begged the Vale housing officer a few weeks ago to house my daughter her husband and three children, but I was told by the officer \"I cannot just magic a house in Abingdon for your daughter and her family\", but this is a subject that will be raised again and again very shortly. P.S. My son-law has bought a carbon monoxide detector.

Why don't they get jobs and buy/rent their own house?

Crikey, Alan - you're beginning to think rationally!

Not me. I wouldn't give into you bastards that easily.

Did you know, Alan, everyone in prison is innocent and all mental patients are sane (according to the respective inmates, that is).

And your not a hysterically racist bigot and the Bnp aren't nazis.
Heard it all before.

David wrote:

Alan Page wrote:

David wrote:

alan page wrote:

K Meads wrote: I would just like to add for the comment above \"if the boiler breaks down within 12 months\". My daughter took photos of the boiler,before and after. It was due to be serviced last October, but was only checked if the boiler was working, it took the plumber 2 hours to clean the boiler and the gas fire out. As for the comment \"Can we really believe the Vale has no emergency housing in Abingdon\"try asking for yourself because I begged the Vale housing officer a few weeks ago to house my daughter her husband and three children, but I was told by the officer \"I cannot just magic a house in Abingdon for your daughter and her family\", but this is a subject that will be raised again and again very shortly. P.S. My son-law has bought a carbon monoxide detector.

Why don't they get jobs and buy/rent their own house?

Crikey, Alan - you're beginning to think rationally!

Not me. I wouldn't give into you bastards that easily.

Did you know, Alan, everyone in prison is innocent and all mental patients are sane (according to the respective inmates, that is).

And your not a racist bigot.

Alan Page wrote:

David wrote:

Alan Page wrote:

David wrote:

alan page wrote:

K Meads wrote: I would just like to add for the comment above \"if the boiler breaks down within 12 months\". My daughter took photos of the boiler,before and after. It was due to be serviced last October, but was only checked if the boiler was working, it took the plumber 2 hours to clean the boiler and the gas fire out. As for the comment \"Can we really believe the Vale has no emergency housing in Abingdon\"try asking for yourself because I begged the Vale housing officer a few weeks ago to house my daughter her husband and three children, but I was told by the officer \"I cannot just magic a house in Abingdon for your daughter and her family\", but this is a subject that will be raised again and again very shortly. P.S. My son-law has bought a carbon monoxide detector.

Why don't they get jobs and buy/rent their own house?

Crikey, Alan - you're beginning to think rationally!

Not me. I wouldn't give into you bastards that easily.

Did you know, Alan, everyone in prison is innocent and all mental patients are sane (according to the respective inmates, that is).

And your not a racist bigot.

No, I'm not.