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SALFORD SALIX HOMES DISABLED RESIDENT SUICIDE ATTEMPT AS CRIES FOR HELP IGNORED
 

Star date: 21st November 2017

'HORRIFIED' PARENTS TELL OF SALIX 'TURNING BACK' ON DISABLED SON 

"We can't understand how anyone can let a company do this to a vulnerable person forcing him to try and take his own life..."

The parents of a disabled man living in a Salix Homes flat off Blackfriars Road have written to the Salford City Mayor, Salford MP and local councillors after their son tried to commit suicide in a motorway car park.

The email states that Salix refused to help deal with anti-social behaviour and disability access issues, and "refused to accept that he is even disabled" despite him receiving full PIP... "The fact that his urgent cries for help have been ignored and his landlords have turned their back on him and instructed solicitors rather than provide the help that he urgently needs is horrifying".

Full details and email here...


"As his parents we are devastated that everything has deteriorated so badly that he felt he couldn't go on, we are both disabled and have gone through our own problems but nothing comes close to how he is being treated..."


Last month, the Salford Star was contacted by a disabled man living in a high rise flat off Blackfriars Road. He hadn't been able to get his shopping out of his car for two days because the lift to his floor was broken and landlord, Salix Homes, he said, had refused to provide disabled tenants and visitors any form of assistance.

When we phoned him up, we had to hold as his friend had just turned up with some toilet roll. He was a virtual prisoner in his own home... "I personally am unable to use the stairs without the risk of injury and actually stumbled on Wednesday trying to get down the stairs twisting my knees when they refused to help" his original email stated "They showed no concern and have made no attempt to keep me or others updated on what's happening."*

When we visited him, we saw that he was obviously disabled and was on medication but he told us that Salix was asking for proof , despite the fact that the company had fitted a wet room.

Meanwhile, horrendous ongoing anti-social behaviour (ASB) issues with people in the flat above, who had rented from someone who had bought their property from Salix, had left him depressed and at the end of his tether...

We decided, with his agreement, not to run the story straight away, as he had already received a solicitor's letter from Salix stating that the company would no longer discuss the anti-social behaviour case or any other issues. We didn't want him to be victimised further, as has happened with other social housing tenants in Salford that have spoken out against their landlord.

He said he was going to stay with his parents in Bristol as the problems upstairs had got worse, and, despite contacting his ward councillors, none had replied after two weeks.

Last Saturday, the Salford Star received a copy of an email from his parents in Bristol sent to Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, Salford and Eccles MP, Rebecca Long-Bailey, local councillors Stephen Ord and Jane Hamilton, and Councillor Richard Critchley, who used to live on the estate. Their son had tried to commit suicide in a motorway car park.

The full text of the email reads...

Dear MP and Councillors,
 
"Myself and my husband have obtained your contact details and are writing to you all following the terrifying suicide attempt of our son on Wednesday, after he has received NO help, not even from his landlords over the last 12 months. We have checked his emails and his cries for help regarding this daily ASB and Access Problems which go back months but have gone unanswered.
 
We thank God that his suicide attempt was stopped in time and he received emergency help in a motorway car park from the Air Ambulance and Worcestershire Police [reference number provided]. He is currently at our family home trying to regain his strength and put himself back together and hopes to be fit to return home soon.
 
We know you have been told how bad things are for our son and how he has been forced to deal with ASB from his neighbours for months often being forced out of his home and even sleeping in his car, we also know that he told his housing officer about his suicidal thoughts but nothing was done. You all know that he is registered disabled and takes large doses of prescribed medication daily. He has now been refused any help from his landlords in dealing with this ongoing ASB and basic access requests due to his disabilities.
 
What is even more serious and frightening is that his landlord has now refused to accept the fact that he is even disabled and refuses to provide any help, even after he has had his bathroom replaced with a disabled wet room, he's been given a disabled parking pass and also given them personal medical details for a number of years. He is in the support group for ESA and receives full PiP so the DWP can see his serious disabilities but his landlords can't.
 
The fact that his urgent cries for help have been ignored and his landlords have turned their back on him and instructed solicitors rather than provide the help that he urgently needs is horrifying, we can't understand how anyone can let a company do this to a vulnerable person forcing him to try and take his own life, they should be held responsible for leaving him in this desperate way.

As his parents we are devastated that everything has deteriorated so badly that he felt he couldn't go on, we are both disabled and have gone through our own problems but nothing comes close to how he is being treated. We now plead to you as his Councillors and MP, in a hope that you will step forward and provide the desperate support which he should have received months ago and hope he is not left to get worse on his own as we couldn't cope with a repeat of the last few days.
 
We would really like to thank Mr Critchley for the help he has given our son, we know you're not his Councillor but we know he was feeling encouraged after your visits at the time and we thank you for giving him some of your time and support..."


* When the Salford Star was first contacted by the tenant, we emailed Salix Homes for a comment on the broken lifts and disabled access issues but received no response.

Since the email arrived we have contacted the tenant's parents and been told that, as of yesterday, only Councillor Critchley and Rebecca Long-Bailey's office had responded. This is particularly poor on the part of Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, who used to live on the estate, and ran the Vertical Villages residents association as a 'community activist'.

The Salford Star has kept the name of tenant anonymous for the time being while he recovers.


Photo by Steven Speed

Gemma wrote
at 17:33:50 on 29 November 2017
Thank you "NotTheWholeStory", I hadn't realised that getting Compensation and going to the Gym means my Landlord can abuse me. I have had Compensation from a Housing Landlord for a serious personal injury that included my husband's death. I also go to the local leisure Centre, it is in my Care-Plan, as being needed for therapeutic reasons. But I would agree with Michael James Felse, you are almost certainly (In my opinion)breaching Data-Protection and Confidentiality.
?
Gemma wrote
at 17:33:26 on 29 November 2017
Bla Bla Bla or should it be Ba-Ba-Ba? It seems to me you are the one that is a Sheep. Salix have been known to ban tenants from contacting them, and even taking tenants to Court for reporting disrepair, and despite loosing the Cases, still make out that they won. I know someone who was banned from phoning Salix Homes when acting as an advocate for a Salix Tenant. I don't think the advocate complied with the unorthodox ban, but Salix certainly tried to silence the person.
?
Michael James Felse wrote
at 14:03:10 on 29 November 2017
I am appalled to read attacking comments that probably came from insiders in our Council or working at their property agent. I demand an investigation and sackings. Confidentiality and data protection must be made a sackable offence.
?
NotTheWholeStory wrote
at 20:08:28 on 28 November 2017
Funny how it's not been mentioned that this tenant got £1000s in compensation after suing Salix Homes in a few years back for a capital works program at his block. Also not been mentioned that he spends most of his time at the gym.
?
Bla Bla Bla wrote
at 08:30:45 on 23 November 2017
For someone to be banned from interacting with the company shows there's more to this story. The Star never tells the whole story and the sheep fall for it every time. Just some dolescum with too much time on their hands causing problems for everyone else.
?
wrote
at 18:31:01 on 22 November 2017
Salix eugenics policy again?
?
Idiot Radar wrote
at 21:31:37 on 21 November 2017
Salix Homes must have loads of lovely people working for them. How kind of them to leave a disabled adult to suffer noise nuisance and trap him in his flat due to the disrepair of the lifts. I'm not quite sure why the Salix Homes solicitor has contacted him. Surely reporting disrepair is not a breach of tenancy. I pretty sure reporting noise nuisance is also not a breach of tenancy. Maybe Salix Homes would like to make his attempted suicide a breach of tenancy as well. I bet the employees of Salix Homes are really proud of themselves and sleep very well at night. I'm pretty sure this poor disabled guy has not had a decent nights sleep in months. I do believe in Karma and I hope Salix Homes gets everything they rightly deserve.
?
Bob wrote
at 21:31:32 on 21 November 2017
You will get no proper answers from any of them councilors. One of them at least sits on Salix board of directors along with about 3 or 4 other councilors plus a few independent ones. Like I said before, we have an important election coming up, and I firmly believe that it is the Stars duty to grill these candidates as hard as possible about all these types of important issues.What might be an idea is for the readership here to submit questions through the Stars editorial team and give the candidates a right to answer them. I suspect one candidate might not wish to speak through the star (if they keep the party line), but that is up to them.Perhaps say 3 or4 questions a day.
?
Caroline Gray wrote
at 21:30:44 on 21 November 2017
salix have always been a disgrace they are sud contracted by salford city council...So they can get out of the blame...an they continue to get away with it..Bindloss.. plus my 90 years dad who live in a bungalow..not correctly maintained by salix .. been going on for years ..thanks to s. kingston may be some one will listen ..
?
mark davison wrote
at 16:02:06 on 21 November 2017
I'M A DISABLED SALIX RESIDENT AND FEAR THIS COULD HAPPEN TO ME...SHAME ON SALIX
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