When Christine shows us around her privately-rented home in Maltby, Rotherham, there are visible issues with damp in every room.
“I’m sick of seeing it like this. My house has never been like this. When I was younger and working I could do it [repair the house] myself,” she says. “We just can’t do it now.”
The couple say they first told their managing agent, Savills, about the problems in 2022.
Savills says it authorised work for the house, including having the roof resurfaced in 2023 – but water is still getting in, including from the adjoining property, and many other problems remain.
BBC Panorama wanted to find out who was ultimately responsible for the condition of the home.
It is owned by a company called Area Estates Ltd, which Companies House records show is part of the William Pears Group. Two of the three brothers who are directors of the group live in some of the most expensive postcodes in London.
One of them, Mark Pears, is also on the 2024 Sunday Times rich list, with an estimated family wealth of more than £3bn. He is also a trustee of the British Museum. His brother and fellow director Sir Trevor Pears was knighted in 2017 for his charity work.
Area Estates told us it had authorised professional managing agents “to look after the [Rotherham] property in accordance with all regulations”, and to “carry out day-to-day maintenance”, and that requests for more expensive repairs were always responded to quickly.
“The managing agents will reinspect the house shortly and attend to any repair issues found which are the landlord’s responsibility,” it added.
Managing agent Savills said it was “very sorry to learn that Mrs Brown believes that complaints have been in any way ignored”. It said it had always attempted to address any problems in a timely manner – and had completed 13 different inspection and repair works at the property between 2023 and 2024.
When BBC Panorama told the couple about the identity of their landlord, Christine said: “I’d shake his hand and I’d say, ‘please make my house safe’.”
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