Sheffield family forced to pay indefinite £80 monthly charge while trapped in council house with 'endless problems'

Tyrone Burke, moved into the council-owned house on Lichford Road in Heeley with his wife, Chloe and his two-year-old daughter Layla back in March.

Chloe has since given birth to their four-month old son Tyrone Junior but the couple say the house has caused them huge amounts of stress with multiple problems that the local authority has failed to fix.

The 35-year-old furloughed bar supervisor initially complained that the property was ‘falling down’ around him and his family, after huge heavy chunks of plaster was falling off the walls in their living room, which the pair feared could harm their two young children.

Tyrone and Chloe are concerned they will be left paying an ‘indefinite’ £80 monthly charge for using council provided furniture and electronics such as a washing machine, fridge, sofa and cooker, no matter how long the family rent the property.

The Heeley residents chose to rent a furnished property before they moved in, as they had limited access to their own belongings due to family circumstances, for an extra cost of £20 a week on top of their normal rent.

The pair claim they have now been told they will be charged the extra £80 monthly fee indefinitely, which is allegedly not in their contracts, even if they continue to rent the home for up to 15 years.

"I was kind of shocked when I got off the phone”, Tyrone said.

"It's an awful lot of money, I'm on furlough now and I was looking at my finances and when I saw the rent and the service charges, it's beyond belief to be honest with you.

"It's such a heap of stress especially because we were told it is an indefinite charge of £80 a month, it's worrying to say the least.

"My wife is stressed out to bits, it just feels like an endless list of problems – we haven't even lodged half the complaints we should have.”

Sheffield City Council have now repaired the crumbling walls in their house and made it safe, but 27 bags of plaster, bricks, cement and plastic have been left on Tyrone and Chloe’s front lawn from the job since July – despite multiple calls to the repairs service to remove them.

The couple have also been told they risk being fined if they try to remove the carpet in their house – which is now stained – and replace it with wooden flooring that they’ve paid for themselves.

"I just want the council to give us a time-frame for when we can pay the goods off”, the 35-year-old continued.

"I wouldn't mind if they said if we had to pay £80 a month for three years or four years, at least we would have some sort of finish line.

"We just want the council to be accountable for not just the stress they've caused us but for all the other families this must be happening to.

"We just want somewhere comfortable to live, we just want a nice house, everybody wants a nice house."

Sheffield City Council were contacted for comment.

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