Homelessness squalor in Cardiff council accommodation exposed

Martin Shipton

Cardiff council is urgently investigating filthy living conditions in temporary accommodation for homeless people after Nation.Cymru drew the authority’s attention to some Tik Tok videos portraying the squalor.

The three videos show the interior of an apartment block called Adams Court in the Adamsdown district of the capital.

They depict encrusted dirt in the rooms where homeless people are expected to live, with food scraps in the corridor, a discarded syringe on the floor and a cockroach.

One video has as a soundtrack the Mission Impossible theme, with the music pausing as a woman can be heard screaming abuse.

A caption reads: “Would you live here? Come with me to view my temporary accommodation from the council.”

The ex-council employee who sent us the videos said: “I have been sent these videos relating to Adams Court, a Cardiff council hostel, by workers currently based there who are at a loss as to what more they can do to get the situation addressed.

“I understand that staff have repeatedly raised concerns and asked for managers to intervene, but feel that their concerns have been ignored.

“As a former Cardiff council employee, with many years’ experience working within homelessness services, I am genuinely appalled by the conditions shown in these videos. The council has spent millions of pounds refurbishing its hostel provision over the last six years, yet what is shown at Adams Court appears completely unacceptable.

“I believe this is something Nation Cymru should be aware of and investigate. The videos speak for themselves and raise serious questions about the condition of the accommodation and how concerns raised by staff are being dealt with.

“That hostel has approximately three to four support staff and two security staff on each day along with cleaning staff. The fact nobody is around and it is in that state is appalling. I’m informed by people who still work in there and other hostels that it is like that as standard now and management has fallen off a cliff. People feel unsafe and at risk and as for the poor vulnerable residents I despair.

“Adams Court is one of several hostels that has had approximately £5m-plus spent on it during the last four to five years. Appalling. This needs to be properly investigated and called out.”

‘Very concerned’

A Cardiff council spokesperson said: “We are very concerned by the conditions shown in these videos of Adams Court temporary accommodation.

“Cleaning staff are based on site and a cleaning regime is in place to maintain the building’s corridors and communal areas.

“However, the conditions shown in the footage fall well below the standards we expect and are unacceptable. We are urgently investigating the matter and addressing the situation as a priority.

“The Council is committed to providing safe, clean and well-managed accommodation for residents and will take the steps needed to ensure standards are maintained.”

This is not the first time that bad living conditions in Adams Court have been exposed.

In 2019 WalesOnline ran an article that featured a single mother who had been living in a one-bedroom flat in the complex for more than a year. She stayed in a flat above the laundry room with her 19-month-old daughter, but living there was having a big impact on her.

“I didn’t mind living here at first, but I hate it now,” she said. “I find it unbearable and really depressing.

“I do not like coming home.”

The 26-year-old – who found herself homeless after having to move out of her mother’s house because it was overcrowded – said she had a mice infestation in her apartment. She said she had found around 30 mice in the previous nine months.

They were chewing through the walls, chewing through her daughter’s first shoes and her Easter chocolate.

She had even found droppings in her daughter’s cot.

It had reached a point where she wouldn’t let her daughter play with her toys because the mice kept urinating on them.

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