Anti-social behaviour forces Sheffield man to leave flat he lived in for 28 years

Charles Greenwood, 68, moved into Harold Lambert Court - formerly Hyde Park flats - in 1991, but left last year after enduring four years of disruption.

The former builder says he was left with no choice but to leave after being continually ‘fobbed off’ by housing association Together Housing, who took over the running of the building from Sheffield Council some years ago.

And he thinks that his story shows just how powerless tenants are when former council properties are broken up and sold off on the private housing market in this way.

He said: “The block was meant to be for over 40s when I moved in. When the council ran it it was beautiful. If you had any problems they sorted it.

“Then the person above me rented theirs out to students and it was just parties, parties, parties. I ended up living in the kitchen.

“Together Housing asked me to make a diary of what went on - I must have made seven or eight over four years.

“But in the end they did nothing to help me and my doctor advised me to move.”

Charles said he was spurred to contact the Star after reading the story of Harborough Avenue resident Dominique Wilson, another Together Housing tenant who said anti-social behaviour (ASB) left her terrified to be in her own home.

“There are plenty of people like me and that lass,” he said.

“I even got in touch with the council but all they can do is send letters - they can’t go and visit them.

“After I said I would take them to court and they just laughed at me.”

Charles has since moved to another flat on Bernard Street, but says after so long in a property he loved, he has found it difficult to settle.

“30 years is a long time to be shoved about like that,” he said.

“I was happy there. Moving has cost me a fortune and been a big stress.”

Caroline Grosvenor, head of sustainable neighbourhoods for Together Housing, said: ‘’We have robust procedures in place that we follow when we receive any type of anti-social behaviour complaint.

“Although we cannot go into specific detail, in this case we did work with and support Mr Greenwood over a period of time, in line with our procedures.

“We do take ASB very seriously and act quickly to respond to incidents that are reported. Noise nuisance cases can often be complex and we always try to work with the complainant to gather as much evidence as possible.

“We are sorry that Mr Greenwood felt that this matter could not be resolved to his satisfaction.”