Rent strike Blaydon woman vows to go to court to get home repairs

Margaret Henderson said she was withholding rent until her sheltered living bungalow is repaired

A woman who owes £4,500 in rent arrears says she is prepared to go to court rather than pay up after a council failed to repair her bungalow.

Margaret Henderson, 82, of Blaydon, Gateshead, said she halted payments following storm damage in February.

She said her walls were cracked, her back door let in water and the chimney needed urgent repairs.

Gateshead Council said severe weather and Covid created a backlog of repairs, but would carry out repairs by March.

Mrs Henderson said the council had repaired one wall but there were still cracks in others

Mrs Henderson, who has lived in the sheltered accommodation for 12 years, said: "I'm not going away.

"They've got to take me to court and I think that any court, judge or jury is going to see that I have a case.

"I can't use my back door because the rain comes in, the flue leaks, the chimney needs repairing.

"Patching up is no good - the damage is too far gone."

She said she had not expected to go as far as she had with not paying her rent but the council was not "making any moves to put this right".

'Not good enough'

Mrs Henderson said although the council had repaired a damaged wall, she had spent £300 of her own money on repairs to her path.

She added: "The council has offered me £400 to more or less go away and they'll pay my solicitor's costs, reasonable costs, but it's not good enough."

A spokesman for Gateshead Council declined to comment on Mrs Henderson's case due to the "ongoing legal action".

However, in a statement, he said: "Priority is given to repairs that either present a health and safety risk, or if there are critical needs, which does mean some tenants are having to wait for minor repairs.

"At present, however, there are no outstanding emergency or urgent repairs."