Blind Blackpool couple facing eviction from home of 22 years

Blackpool Gazette

A Blackpool couple, both of whom are blind, said they were “unable to sleep” after being told they would have to leave their home of 22 years.

Transcript

00:00Last year, we found out in late February that the landlord had lost all his properties and had gone into receivership,

00:08and we found out this by an email.

00:10The day before that, the agent had come round and got us to sign all these new tenancies and we thought it was a bit strange.

00:16So then they said, you've got to deal with this company called Redbrick,

00:20who's since found out they're like receivers for the mortgage company that he had all his properties with.

00:28So then they said, all the properties are going to be managed by Broomhead's estate agent on Church Street in Blackpool,

00:34so the day-to-day maintenance is now with them.

00:36We have to pay the rent to those people at Broomhead's.

00:39And they said, we don't know what's going to happen to the properties,

00:43whether they're going to be sold or whether they'll just go on as they are,

00:46which obviously it went on for a good time.

00:49We had a tenancy up to last August, and then after August they just said it's a rolling tenancy every month,

00:54which we'd been paying, obviously.

00:57So then just before Christmas, we got told that the house was going on the market with Unique Estate Agents in Cleveland.

01:05So they said that they wanted to try and sell it with us in it,

01:08and they did put on the blur that they put on the sale thing, that they wanted investors only to view.

01:18So we got two investors viewing, but there's been no sale.

01:22And then on the 2nd of March, we got this email, which we didn't understand at first,

01:29because we couldn't read the attachment, because our phone wouldn't read it at first.

01:33So we had to get help to read it, and it was a Section 21 to say that we had to vacate the property,

01:38that they wanted us to start moving in two months.

01:42So I phoned them and said, look, this is not possible because it's a big house,

01:45we need to get all the furniture out, we need money to get vans and storage and everything.

01:50And also, we've got the guide dog, we can't just move in two months,

01:53because if we haven't got a permanent home, they will temporarily take them back off us

01:58and keep them with a boarder until we can find a new home.

02:02Then my new guide dog application will be paused,

02:06because it will take a year or so to learn all the new routes if we had to get a new place.

02:11So that's where we're up to at the moment.

02:14I've lived here for 22 years.

02:16And I've lived for 14 years.

02:19I have detached retina in both eyes, which I was born with.

02:25It just developed after a couple of weeks old.

02:28And then it progressively got worse as the years went on,

02:33due to operations I've had, which were not successful, but left a lot of scar tissue.

02:45Later on, when I was in my early 50s, unfortunately I got diabetes as well.

02:53And I have glaucoma as well as detached retina.

03:01So I'm on insulin and tablets for that as well.

03:07I was born, nobody knew anything until about three months,

03:11and no one noticed that I wasn't looking around and focusing on things.

03:15So they took me to the doctors and they couldn't find anything wrong at first.

03:19So they took me into hospital at three months.

03:22And all they can find out is that, all they say is,

03:25there's something wrong with, see you have so many nerves at the back of your eyes apparently.

03:29So they can't find out which nerves have actually been affected.

03:33So there's no actual name for my diagnosis, just that I've never had full sight.

03:38Because of our technology on our phones, we can work apps and different apps.

03:48But there are certain apps that are more difficult to work than others.

03:51Like the emails, if you send it in PDF format, it's harder to read it than it is if you send it on Word document.

03:58But this is why we had the trouble reading the email.

04:01You shouldn't have to get other people to read emails, personal stuff.

04:05They should have phoned us or sent it by mail to Section 21, which is not what they did.

04:11Because obviously, they had to ask another person to read it.

04:14You shouldn't have to do that, you know, that's wrong.

04:17It's very personal and private business, isn't it, you know.

04:20Yeah, well we've had outside, we had a disabled grant to tarmac all the garden,

04:27because it used to be all stones and it was quite dangerous.

04:29So we tarmacked all the garden for us at the back and part of it at the front, as you can see.

04:34And we have a big, it's like a big galvanised metal pen area for the dogs,

04:41which has a gate on it and they go in there and it's got concrete in there so we can keep that clean.

04:46And we've also had grab rails fitted, we've got all our kitchen set out with our talking microwave,

04:54talking air fryer, talking weighing scales for the dogs, everything where we know where it is.

04:59To feed, to measure out the food for the dogs.

05:02For the dogs, you know, because they have to have their own certain amounts of food every day.

05:05Every day, so we have that all set up as well.

05:08So we know where everything is, we know where everything is in every room of this house,

05:12even though it might look a bit untidy to people, but we know where everything is.

05:17And as I say, it's a big ranch and we've got all our lovely neighbours either side of us who help us.

05:23We've got all our shops and things nearby, we've got our health centre and dentist hall

05:27in Moor Park Health and Leisure Centre, which is nearby.

05:30We've got everything to hand, we've got a good bus route and it's a nice quiet road.

05:35And it's just, after 22 years, especially for me, it's a big ranch, it's heartbreaking really.

05:41Well, it's just like our age, going to a new area, it's just so stressful.

05:47And mobility-wise, getting used to the area, isn't it?

05:53Yeah, to the area and getting used to new people.

05:57Myself and Jonny suffer from anxiety, we're both on antidepressant tablets, so it's the stress of it.

06:03I get panicky in new areas, but not wanting to go out without helping that at first,

06:09because it can be frightening not knowing people, not knowing who your neighbours are,

06:14what sort of people you're living next to and what would happen if something came in your garden for the dogs.

06:20It's just little things that people don't think about.

06:24Sorting out your kitchen where everything is, sorting out all your furniture,

06:29what can you take with you, what can't you take, how do you get from A to B, to the train station, to the bus stops.

06:38This is the problem, because Jamie's almost 10 now, isn't he Jon?

06:42So for him to start learning new routes, and obviously my guide dog, he's retired, so he doesn't need to learn new routes,

06:48but it would take, as I say, a year for me to learn all the routes,

06:51because they won't let you have a new guide dog unless you're very confident on your routes.

06:55You need to know at least three or four good routes where you can do a 45 minute walk with your dog.

07:00You have to do two 45 minute walks a day, you have to be confident yourself before you can take a guide dog out on routes,

07:06because if you misjudge a road or a curb or something, you can get yourself killed or the guide dog injured.

07:12So they've told me that if I have to move it will be paused, and I've already been waiting 13 months for a new dog.

07:19If we had to just say we didn't get a property straight away, we had to go in a hostel,

07:24I just don't know how we'd manage, because there'd be no fridge for Jon's insulin,

07:28you don't know what people would be in there, we wouldn't be allowed to take the dogs,

07:32because obviously it wouldn't be suitable, and it's just such a worry that we might end up there,

07:36but hopefully we wouldn't, but you just don't know, you can't say.

07:40This has been terrible.

07:41Bit of a whirlwind, you know.

07:43It's upset me so much, I can't sleep at night very well because of it all,

07:47Jon thinks about it more in the day, but I mull it all over in my head at night,

07:52and I'm terrible for sleeping, and it's just been awful, you know.

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