Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Mum’s ‘nightmare’ after water pours into home
A mum says she and her young son have been living a “nightmare” for months after a water leak and mould completely destroyed their home.
Video shows water dripping from the ceiling and into containers lined up on the floor at Bethany Harman’s Canterbury flat, with paper hanging from the ceiling. Patches of mould are also visible over the walls.
Miss Harman, 23, is now calling for both compensation and her home to be repaired as she feels “depressed and angry” about the situation.
She has been living in the flat in Creine Mill Lane North since March 2022 with her two-yearold son Ronnie.
But in December water started leaking into her son’s bedroom.
She explained: “I was at my mum’s house as it was just before Christmas and when we got home everything in my son’s bedroom was ruined. “The wardrobe and chest of drawers were soaked. “Ronnie’s clothes turned dirty and mouldy - it was awful.”
Miss Harman says she sent multiple emails to the housing association, Town & Country Housing, but it took months to repair the leak.
She added: “The leak wasn’t fixed until February 17, so we had almost two months of constant water dripping from our ceiling - it’s ridiculous. “We are now in May, and even though the leak has stopped the walls and ceiling in my son’s bedroom are still ruined. “The whole flat stinks of damp.
“The next time someone came round was last Thursday (May 11) to start repairs. They stripped one of the walls and said they could not touch it. “So, we have to wait for another contractor to come and do it all.”
As well as the damage to the property, Miss Harman says it has been harmful to her son’s health. Ronnie suffers with asthma and has had to take multiple trips to the hospital since the leak started.
“He has been so poorly,” Miss Harman said. “He is asthmatic and was in and out of hospital last month because his cough had got so bad.
“It got to the point where doctors are having to write a letter to say that it is not safe for him to live there.”
Miss Harman explained how her social life has also been ruined because of the damage to her home.
She has felt unable to invite any of her friends and family to the flat since the problems started.
She said: “It’s made me so depressed. I can’t have friends or family round my own home. “I leave my house with Ronnie at 8am and don’t go home until 6pm, just so that we don’t have to be in the house.
“I just want my son to be happy and live the life of a normal little boy. The whole thing is not right.
“They spoke about putting us in a hotel but nothing came of that either.
“I think I am entitled to some compensation.”
Town & Country Housing provides more than 9,500 affordable homes across Kent and Sussex.
A spokesman said: “We are sorry that the work to repair damage caused by the leak is still to be completed and can understand Miss Harman’s frustration.
“Over the course of this issue Town & Country Housing and its contractors have tried various methods of contacting Miss Harman to arrange access to the property, including phone calls, emails, texts and visits to the property.
“Despite this range of approaches there have been some issues in gaining access.”
They added the case has been referred by its complaints team and an offer of compensation has been made over delays in rebooking a repair after visiting in March and being unable to “gain access”.