Elderly residents left in Wandsworth ‘death house’ with cricket infestation

By Charlotte Lillywhite, Local Democracy Reporter

Elderly residents say they have been living in a “death house” where crickets have stopped them sleeping – and some even crawled over a resident’s face in the middle of the night.

Social housing tenants of retirement home Oak House in Carlton Drive, Putney claim they are treated with “utter disdain” by PA Housing and say their emails have gone unanswered despite paying their service charge.

They said they went almost one week without heating and hot water this month – and a hole in the communal lounge’s ceiling following a leak last week still hasn’t been repaired.

They criticised the maintenance of the building and garden, adding that there had been a rotten bench for at least three years, overgrown bushes and a shed in disrepair.

Maggie Jones, 69, said the place felt “like a death house”. 

She said PA Housing had sent pest control to lay down traps for the crickets before, and to fumigate utility cupboards last week, but said the entire building needed fumigation.

Ms Jones added that the problem started a year ago when crickets being fed to a pet tarantula escaped into the piping system, and that residents had been “battling with PA” to deal with the problem since.

She said: “I’ve had them on my kitchen work surface, in my bathroom and in my bedroom. Another resident was woken up in the middle of the night with them crawling over his face.”

Resident Chris Maher, 72, said his flat had recently been infested with crickets for around two weeks, “meaning I couldn’t sleep”.

His neighbour, 70-year-old Beverley Tucker, said they were “horrible” and that she had heard them across the hallway with her door closed.

PA Housing said pest control revisited the building on October 24 and was working to get into each flat to ensure the crickets were eradicated.

It said its contractor was visiting on October 28 to repair the ceiling and that the garden’s shed and benches were being removed.

But residents said PA had not updated them about the issues. They said there had been a drop in standards since the complex moved from sheltered housing to independent living following a review in 2014, adding that a housing officer now comes once instead of five times a week.

Maria Frawley, assistant director of property services and repairs at PA Housing, said: “We are really sorry that customers living in our independent living scheme, Oak House, have reported that they are unhappy about the service they’ve recently received.

“We arranged for a specialist pest control contractor to revisit the building (on October 24) to carry out another treatment, following a further report of a cricket found in the hallway.

“While our contractor found minimal traces of crickets in the communal areas, as part of their follow-up visit next week, we are working with residents to gain access to each flat so we can ensure the issue is completely eradicated.”

Pictured top: Chris Maher (left) and Maggie Jones (right) by utility cupboards where they heard crickets at Oak House in Putney (Picture: Charlotte Lillywhite)