Residents have claimed their ‘biggest mistake’ was moving in Southern Housing flats after being blighted by bed bugs, mould and asbestos.
Four blocks of Southern Housing accommodation in St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings, have cases of bed bug infestations.
People living at Four Courts and the wider Southern Housing area have been protesting about living conditions for months, as tenants say their complaints about mould and asbestos are overlooked.
Lee Gooch, a resident of Four Courts since he was a child said: ‘The bed bug epidemic has got to the point where I cannot stay in that flat anymore.
‘I am waking up to them swarming all over me, it is horrible and not liveable.’
At a residents’ protest on November 16, Gooch said in a video posted to the protesters’ TikTok that he has been living in a tent for the past three to four months, while ‘several complaints’ to Southern Housing have been unanswered.
Metro spoke with another resident of the Four Courts, mother Gemma Harman, 38, who discovered bed bugs in her flat.
She has an appointment for pest control to come to her flat in January 2025, having cancelled one scheduled in November and other appointments earlier in the year.
Harman said: ‘You want to make a home for your little boy, but you cannot do that when you have bugs crawling up the walls and in your skirting boards.
‘He is not wanting to go to his bedroom and is too scared to go to sleep.
‘What really annoys me is how long it takes for Southern Housing to get in touch with pest control to come out.’
After spotting bed bugs on her son’s bed a couple weeks ago, that was the ‘final straw’ for her to demand a chemical treatment.
She said: ‘I have had enough of living like this now.
‘Having to check my boy’s bedroom and my bed every single day is absolutely awful.’
Residents of Four Courts received a letter from Southern Housing on November 18 saying that Southern Housing wants to ‘break the cycle of bed bugs at Four Courts’ by undertaking a comprehensive six week treatment programme.
In the letter, seen by Metro, Southern Housing did not specify when this will take place. Resident said they were concerned that there are bed bound tenants who would struggle to leave their rooms for that long.
Multiple residents reported bed bug infestations to Metro, as well as battles with mould and asbestos.
One tenant has seen her and her daughter’s health ‘ruined’ by enduring mould, damp and asbestos in her home.
Donna Maria, 43, moved into a Southern Housing property in St Leonards, not in the Four Courts, in February.
Soon after, a surveyor said ‘the property was not in an adequate condition for occupation prior’ to her move, an assessment that Southern Housing confirmed in March.
She had two stays in a hotel as contractors tackled asbestos in the walls, only to be left with cracked asbestos tiling.
The tenant was told by a contractor that they should not be walking on the tiles, but that is not possible as they are in her living room, dining room and hallway.
She said: ‘We have been living like this since we moved in.
‘It has ruined our health. I have been signed off of work multiple times. I have suffered with migraines and have been sick.
‘My daughter has had to take time off college.
‘We feel like it is the biggest mistake ever moving here.
‘We are all paying hundreds of pounds worth of rent and nothing is coming of it.
‘If you are a council tenant, you are a second class citizen and as long as you have a roof over your head they are not interested.’
In March 2024, Southern Housing have upheld her complaint against the Association and ‘fully recognise[d] this is a failure on our part’ in relation to a ‘lack of communication’ with the tenant and apologised to her.
In a report investigating the complaint, Southern Housing admitted that they never replied to her after she raised concerns of mould and damp in her property daily for over a month.
They offered her compensation for these failings.
After one-to-one meeting and a walk around the property in August, Southern Housing agreed to move her out of the property for up to a month to remove the asbestos and replaster her property.
In November, they confirmed that this would take place in January 2025.
Donna Maria is a member of an independent group of Southern Housing tenants protesting conditions in St Leonards and she also runs the ‘Action Against Southern Housing’ TikTok.
‘We have grouped together and try to help each other,’ she added.
‘A lot of people are scared to speak up because they are in fear of being evicted.’
The group held a protest about their living conditions in July, with another one held in conjunction with Housing Rebellion last weekend.
Southern Housing said in a statement to Metro: ‘It’s vital we break the cycle of bed bugs at the Four Courts where around 10% of homes have been affected.
‘We believe the best way of doing this is treating the blocks over a dedicated period of six weeks to achieve long-term success.
‘This would be carried out at no cost to our residents.
‘For some time now, we’ve been attending the Four Courts every fortnight to carry out regular treatments to homes where we’re aware bed bugs are present.
‘Since April, we’ve carried out treatments at 35 different flats at a cost of over £25,000.
‘While this has had some positive effects, we’ve committed to a comprehensive treatment plan for all four buildings – covering 329 flats.
‘We wanted to begin this treatment straight away and complete it, if possible, ahead of Christmas.
‘We met with residents in the communal lounge in one of the buildings in October and our plans seemed to be positively received.
‘However, the local Residents’ Association has since asked us to carry out further resident consultation before proceeding, which we’ve agreed to do.
‘Our hope is that after this consultation we’ll be able to proceed with the planned building wide treatment early in the new year, with the support of all residents.
‘Bed bugs can be found in the cleanest of homes and are an increasing problem across the country.
‘We already encourage our Four Courts residents to let us know if they’ve any bed bugs so we can take immediate action.
‘We’ve covered all costs of this treatment for over two years and all home visits are logged on our system.
‘We employ specialists who use recognised treatment methods, the same as many other organisations across the country.
‘These treatments are perfectly safe and the most effective way of dealing with the pests.
‘Common fly spray has more toxins in than the pesticide our experts use.
‘Alternative treatments, like heat or steam, will kill the bed bugs but don’t tackle any bugs or eggs that are buried.
‘The proposed six week treatment period means residents homes would be treated once every two weeks, and they would only have to vacate their homes for five hours each time.
‘We’re committed to tackling this issue and we’ve written to all residents at the Four Courts again this week telling them about the delays due to consultation, and what we’re doing to support them both in the short and long term.’
Southern Housing said that their pest control contractor has been unable to carry out effective treatment at Gooch’s property because of heavy clutter and that he is occupying the property without their permission, adding they have begun legal action to recover it.
Southern Housing are one of the largest housing providers in the UK with around 80,000 homes across London, the South East, the Isle of Wight and the Midlands.
Over 167,000 people live in Southern Housing’s accommodation across the country.
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