Mums criticise conditions at Gervis Court Hotel in Bournemouth

Living conditions at Gervis Court Hotel don’t meet basic human rights, say residents.

The former hotel in Bournemouth has electrics ‘which often trip’, crumbling plasterwork and problems with hot water supply.

BCP Council uses the venue to help people and families who have become homeless through no fault of their own.

However, current and former residents, all with young children, have hit out and want improvements to be made.

Emma Dorman, 32, said she was told to leave her room when she raised her concerns with Kingsley Property Group about mould via email.

“I don’t feel like they meet basic human rights, in regard to mould, there was no cleaning being done in communal areas,” she said.

“I said about my concerns of mould, because I have my eight-year-old and my 19-month-old in the room with me, and I found a lot of mould.

“Within four hours of sending a polite email to the manager, I was told my room was closed down which the council knew nothing about. I was basically told I had an hour to pack up my stuff and leave.”

Emma added residents are made to ‘feel really bad’ if they complain about the building.

She lived in the building for four months until September, after her previous landlord of eight years was forced to sell up due to the cost-of-living crisis.

Anne Marie Lewis, 43, said that mould and damp is simply painted over when concerns are raised.

The former resident said: “I’ve got a child with chronic asthma and allergic to penicillin, which obviously grows in the mould.

“At the time I had a newborn. When I raised my concern, they said they filled the hole in and then they just wallpapered over and that was fixed.”

May Morgan, a current resident, said that both the council and residents are paying for accommodation, but don’t see where the money is going.

She said: “It used to be that we would only be in emergency accommodation for two, three weeks maximum, where obviously the housing is at its worst point at the minute, I've been in there six months.”

A 31-year-old woman, who wished to remain unnamed, complained of the ceiling falling through due to dampness and not having hot water.

She said: “I had a bit of the ceiling in my hand and apparently they just slapped some paint on and put some screws in the ceiling.”

The building is owned by Black Stone Fort (Gervis) Limited, however, according to company director Richard Carr it is leased to Kingsley Property Group, which also manages the site.

Mr Carr said Kingsley would be served a notice for the property.

Meanwhile, BCP Council said it was aware of some of the issues at Gervis Court Hotel and is working with the Kingsley and residents to ensure health and safety criteria are met.

A spokesperson for the authority said: “We inspected the hotel on 25 September and provided management with a detailed action plan using our Health and Safety checklist. At the time, we advised we would not be placing any further households in Gervis Court Hotel.

“On 6 October, we completed a follow-up visit and found that all necessary actions had been completed. We continue to work closely alongside the hotel to ensure all health and safety standards are being met.”

The Daily Echo has contacted Kingsley and is awaiting comment.