'Revolting': Birmingham council tennants speak out on the state of their homes as they wait for much-needed woks

The Labour-run Birmingham City Council was recently accused of failing its tenants after it was revealed around 40,000 bathrooms and kitchens needed replacing.

It said last month that it needed to undertake “unprecedented levels of investment” in council housing stock over the next seven years to fully comply with the decent homes standard.

The government benchmark states all social housing should be in a reasonable state of repair and have reasonably modern facilities.

But according to government-appointed commissioners at the council, around 70 per cent of the council’s housing stock is currently “non-decent”.

In response, the council pledged the situation would dramatically improve as a result of a huge investment being made – a significant proportion of which was being directed towards kitchen and bathroom replacement programmes.

But Birmingham council tenants speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service have described their growing frustration after waiting years and years for their old and “revolting” rooms to be replaced.

One mum, from south Birmingham, said the council told her years ago that a kitchen replacement in her home was due – but she still remains on the waiting list.

“The main issue is the state of it,” she said. “The cupboards are hanging off; there’s mould under the sink and there’s yellow-stained wallpaper.

“Your kitchen is the heart of the home but we can’t even enjoy cooking or making meals. It’s horrible and really embarrassing.

“The kitchen is revolting,” she added. “It needs ripping out and replacing.”

But despite fighting for three to four years to get her kitchen sorted, the city council has still not managed to replace it.

“All they do is fob me off,” the mum, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “It isn’t fair and I have to just put up and shut up.

“Council bosses wouldn’t live in a kitchen like mine so why should tenants have to?”

Another mum, from Sheldon, said she had been chasing the council to replace her damp-ridden bathroom and old kitchen for nearly a decade.

“Every year I would give them a call around the end of March to see if my home would be on the list for the housing improvement scheme,” she said. “The answer would always be the same – not this year unfortunately.

“But you would still be on the waiting list.”

Waiting for so long has left the mum, who also wished to remain anonymous, deeply frustrated and she described the prospect of waiting a few more years as “disappointing”.

“[The city council] need to do their job properly and invest in their homes and properties,” she said. “People have to live in good standard homes.”

‘Tenants have been let down’

A council report said the authority needed to replace just over 22,000 kitchens and around 18,000 bathrooms in council homes over the next four years – a total of about 40,000.

Opposition councillors argued it was a sign of the underinvestment in the authority’s housing stock in recent years.

“Tenants of Birmingham have been let down by the city council for a decade of failure to maintain council houses,” Coun Robert Alden, Conservative group leader, said. “It is welcome that tenants will finally get their failing bathrooms and kitchens replaced.

“It should never have been allowed to get to the situation that over 40,000 kitchens and bathrooms needed replacing at one time.”

Coun Bruce Lines, shadow cabinet member for housing and homelessness, added: “After over a decade of neglect and underinvestment, it will take years to undo the damage.”

Coun Roger Harmer, leader of the Liberal Democrats at the council, also told a cabinet meeting recently: “What we’re effectively saying is there are thousands of people who desperately need new bathrooms and kitchens who will have to wait another three or four years before they actually get them.”

'Warm safe and sustainable homes'

Addressing concerns raised by tenants, cabinet member for housing Coun Jayne Francis said the council recently announced plans to invest £1.6 billion over the next seven years in its council homes.

She said this would ensure all of its residents will be living in “warm, safe and sustainable” homes.

“This follows £236m investment in our existing stock for 2024/2025, with kitchens and bathrooms and other components replaced in 6,414 homes,” she continued.

“This supports residents who have been eagerly awaiting investment for several years and shows the council’s commitment to bolstering the investment in resident’s homes.

“Over time, energy bills will be cut, homes will be safer and warmer, and some tenants will have new kitchens or bathrooms installed.”

Coun Francis went on to say that the council sympathises with its tenants who have “already been waiting for improvements to their kitchens or bathrooms”.

“It will take time to carry out the works needed, as this is a seven-year investment programme,” she said.

“However, we are committed to delivering as many replacement components, including kitchens and bathrooms as quickly as we can.

“We want to reassure tenants that we are working at pace and remain on track to deliver this huge investment in council homes.”

She previously said more issues were being encountered as stock condition surveys were conducted.

Paul Langford, strategic director of city housing, added recently there had been an underinvestment in homes in the city for more than a decade and the council would soon begin to see the decency figures moving in the right direction.