Disabled council resident falls victim of Rochdale's water gate

Photo: Jan Harwood

Middleton resident Peter Plumb outside Rochdale Town Hall with his eviction notices.

An ex-service man learned just a week before Remembrance Sunday that he could be evicted from his home because of the Council's controversial scheme that allows them to evict council tenants that fall behind on their water rates.

49-year old Peter Plumb, who lives in a one-bedroom council flat on Abbey Road in Middleton and suffers from a degenerative nerve disorder, was served a Notice Seeking Possession by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing in August but only learned that his rent arrears related to water charges on Friday (31 October).

"What next? Will the Council start collecting for gas and electricity as well? What if I get finance to buy a car? Will the Council throw me out of my house when it comes to paying the money back?" said Mr Plumb in an exclusive interview with Rochdale Online.

"This is a stealth tax. I have no objection to paying my water bill but I want my water bill to come to me to pay it."

Mr Plumb is in receipt of full housing benefit so he could not understand how he had fallen into rent arrears.

He received a notice seeking possession in August this year, saying that he had rent arrears of £227.26 and that if the situation was not resolved within four weeks, an application would be made to the County Court for a repossession order.

Only on Friday did Mr Plumb learn that the overdue balance was weekly water rates and, as part of the Council policy, they were part of the total weekly rent and were subject to Rochdale Boroughwide Housing's debt recovery procedure.

Mr Plumb has tried to get re-housed from his current flat because his disability has worsened recently and he needs his carer to move in with him permanently. The council's threat of eviction has prevented him moving house because of the outstanding rent arrears.

He said: "My condition means I will end up in a wheelchair and I cannot move my carer in with me until I am re-housed. I struggle to do basic things like get in and out of the bath or get out of bed so this has been a real setback.

"The council should not have the power to collect a third party debt and they should not be able to tell people that I have rent arrears when I haven't, I have got a debt to a water company that I did not know about until last week."

The policy has led to claims that the Council is acting as bailiffs for United Utilities, as the water company does not have the power to evict anyone, whether living in council or private accommodation, for falling behind on their water rates.

Mr Plumb said, finally: "I do not understand how they can get away with it. It goes completely against my human rights. I just wish they’d been straight with me about the new policy instead of weaving such a complicated web of deceit."

The controversial policy was decided in behind-closed-doors Council Cabinet meeting in September. Rochdale Online exclusively revealed the scheme after Cabinet papers were leaked to the media by Councillor Colin Lambert.

Speaking out on Mr Plumb's case, Councillor Lambert said: "We know there are other people like Mr Plumb who are naturally confused and angry about receiving eviction notices for water rate debts, which are dressed up as rent arrears.

“It’s a very dishonest policy and we don’t think the council should be aggressively chasing commission fees from private companies in exchange for their debt collecting services, especially at a time when people are really feeling the pinch and the economic climate is bleak. This is not the Council’s business.”