'It's a nightmare': Six children homeless after 'sewage explosion' wrecks temporary house

21 February 2025, 14:14 | Updated: 21 February 2025, 15:25

By Alan Zycinski

@AlanJZycinski

A family in Glasgow has been left homeless after a "sewage explosion" at their house, LBC has learned.

Amelia Collins and her partner were moved into the temporary accommodation flat with her six children - aged 1 to 13 - in 2021 ahead of a suitable bigger permanent option becoming available.

Despite describing it as "severely overcrowded" she was "still grateful to have a roof over their heads where the kids can get to and from school".

But that came to an end this week after an "explosion of sewage" left it uninhabitable with no similar sized council properties currently available.

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Amelia told LBC:  "Dirty water started blocking and slightly filling up the toilets, the bath and sink on Saturday because of drain issues outside that've happened previously.

"So we went to go and stay at my partner's grans while we waited for it to be fixed. The property manager's told us it would be treated as an emergency and a plumber did come out two hours later but he warned us drain specialists would be needed.

"And despite me chasing up with calls it took until Wednesday for them to get to the house and by then the sewers had exploded through the toilet.

"There was human waste everywhere. Faeces everywhere.

"It was on the windows. It was on my kids' stuff. It was on clothing that was on the radiators. It all had to be binned.

"The smell was horrific and the hall floors were soaked too. We were in shock at the mess.

"Because the workers think there's wider issues with the drains and they can't guarantee it won't happen again soon, we've been told we can't go back.

"That it's uninhabitable and not safe to live in.

"Maybe if it had been handled quicker it wouldn't be".

The family are now homeless still staying at her partner's gran's - nine people in a two-bed property - because there's not even any similar smaller temporary flats free.

The Council has been able to offer spaces in a hostel and hotel around Glasgow city centre but Amelia's turned them down due to previous experiences.

"The last time we were in that hotel for nine months before the flat, there were problems with drug use and the children actually saw somebody being beaten up really badly. They were traumatised. We just cannot go back. And the hostel would be split into different rooms.

"We just can't really go the city centre at all because of one my daughter's illnesses where we need to take her to her current school. For all of them actually we wouldn't be able to make to where school is for 9am.

"The waiting for a permanent home was already difficult but I've never wanted to be a pest and I know and understand it's difficult finding a place for a big family.

"But now we don't even have any house. We don't know where we are going to be waking up each day. It's just a nightmare."

A council spokesperson said: “This is a Wheatley Homes property which we lease for use as temporary accommodation. We immediately alerted the Wheatley Group of the situation in order that they carry out the necessary repairs. We are working to find a suitable property for Ms Collins while the work is carried out.

“It’s well documented that the housing system in Glasgow is experiencing extreme pressure. There remains a shortage of larger family sized properties, and we are working with stakeholders to address these challenges. Last year the average wait for a four-bedroom property was 225 weeks.”

In a statement, Wheatley Homes said: "Investigations lead us to believe it is a communal issue with an external drain. We’re in regular contact with the council, which manages homeless accommodation in the city, to help get these repairs fixed quickly."

“Our teams were out within three hours of receiving a call on Friday night to carry out a repair. We were out again on the Monday for follow-up work.”