A YOUNG couple with multiple health issues have been left to live in ‘rancid’ conditions by housing bosses who have allegedly failed to handle an ongoing rat infestation taking place at their estate.
Kyle Wildsmith and Kourtney Wake, aged 29 and 26 respectively, have been embroiled in a battle against Berneslai Homes since they moved into their home on Pleasant View in Cudworth two years ago.
In that time, the couple have seen rats infest the house, with the vermin making their way into their property through holes under the kitchen sink and in the bathroom.
However, despite multiple complaints, Berneslai Homes representatives have failed to adequately fix the issue, with the couple living in unbearable conditions as they are forced to constantly clean up rat droppings and urine.
“At the minute we are currently residing in a property that smells vile and rancid due to decomposing rats, rat excrement and rat urine,” Kyle told the Chronicle.
“We’ve gone through pretty much every procedure we can think of to get this sorted.
“We’re in the middle of a stage two complaint with Berneslai Homes but are still awaiting a response.
“It feels like we’re stuck in this situation and nothing’s going to get done.”
Kyle suffers with chronic asthma, depression and dissociative identity disorder, while Kourtney has epilepsy - they claim the ongoing issues have been making them ill.
Between September 6 and 13 they were placed in emergency accommodation at the Ibis hotel in Dodworth while workers came to fix the situation and perform a deep clean, including cleaning underneath the floorboards - though once they returned they realised the promised help had not been supplied.
Throughout their entire stay at the property, Berneslai Homes have only ever offered £100 compensation to the couple, when they apologised for a worker arriving late.
“It’s a joke,” Kyle added.
“They don’t listen and don’t want to help us.
“It’s not right to force paying tenants to live in a place like this.
“All we want is for them to understand how many issues we’ve gone through, how much stress, how much worry, how much money - it’s just getting too much for us now.
“We want out and we feel we deserve out.
“That’s the compensation we want, we don’t want money, we want a move because we have been dealing with issues since before 2023.”
Arturo Gulla, executive director of property services at Berneslai Homes, said the matter is being taken ‘seriously’.
“Keeping tenants safe is our main priority and we take reports of rats and other pests seriously.
“We’ll work with tenants to find a suitable solution and aim to minimise disruption to households where remedial works are required.”
