Mum with toddler complains about ‘dangerous and disgusting’ house

A MUM has complained about a “disgusting” and “dangerous” house she was given by her council last year.

The mum and her one-year-old son moved into the property, in Cort Crescent, Braunstone, in December 2020 - and the next six months have caused her nothing but problems, she said.

She says she has made a series of complaints to Leicester City Council about a number of problems, including mouldy walls, a bathroom which she believes unsuitable for a young child and a fireplace which was coming away from the walls.

She has also raised concerns about the “dangerous” condition of her garden, which has resulted in her son tripping and hurting himself.

The woman says she has raised the issues many times with the council, but the official assigned to her home deemed the work needed as “cosmetic” and her “responsibility to fix”.

She is now worried about the long-term impact on her and her son’s health, and wants to move to a different property instead of waiting for improvements to be made. She said: “I’ve tried everything, I spoke to the council officer and he came down and looked around the house.

“He told us everything in the home is my responsibility and I just need to buy some cheap damp paint, cover it and paint over it.

“He was told that most of the work needing doing was cosmetic, and that I needed to fix it myself.

“The issues he reported included damage to the window-frame and door handle, rather than the bigger things that needed doing.

“The back garden is really dangerous, too. My son has tripped and fallen multiple times there because the paving slabs are uneven. It’s really unsafe for him and I don’t feel comfortable with him playing outside. The house is way beyond decorating, it needs a lot of work doing to it to be a suitable place for a mother and son to live.

“I’m on Universal Credit, I can’t afford to get everything fixed out of my income, as well as support my son.”

The mother sent the Mercury images of her home, which included a fireplace coming away from the walls, a hallway wall covered in mould and damp, as well as a back garden with raised paving slabs and junk in the garden.

She added: “It’s just disgusting. There’s rusty radiators that I’ve been told to paint over, but when you paint it, it just peels off again.

“There’s a lot of mould in the hallway which I’m concerned about, especially when it comes to our long-term health.

“The bathroom is not suitable for a child, either. It’s a wet room with a shower that just sprays on to the floor.

“With the issues in the rest of the house, as well as mould in the bathroom, the last thing I want to do is sit my son down on the bathroom floor to bathe him.

“I’ve actually bought a bathtub that just stands in the room to give him a bath, because it’s just not suitable for a child at all. I just want to be out of the house now, there’s just so much that needs doing and I just can’t see it being completely resolved. I just want out of there.”

The mother also claims she was offered the property without being shown any images or looking around it, a claim which Leicester City Council has denied.

The council has also contested a number of the mother’s claims, saying they have done as much as they can to help the mother with the property, and gave her a £250 redecorating allowance for the property.

It said that the condition of the house “met their accommodation standards of being safe and habitable”, which was accepted by the mother.

The authority says further repairs have also been made, including fixing the detached fireplace earlier this week, after the Mercury approached it for a comment.

A damp inspection is also being arranged to see if there is an underlying issue, as well as the council’s neighbourhood housing team contacting the tenant to arrange to meet and discuss any further concerns with the property.

A spokesperson for Leicester City Council has said: “The property concerned is a substantial semidetached, purpose-built council house overlooking Braunstone Park, and is one of many similar properties in the area.

“The condition of the house when we handed it over in December 2020 met our accommodation standards of being safe and habitable, and the tenant accepted the property as such.

“She applied for and was given the maximum £250 redecorating allowance for the property.

“We’ve been in contact with the tenant frequently over the last six months, responding to every single request she has made to carry out a range of further repairs, including clearing the garden and most recently a visit earlier this week to make safe loose brickwork around the fire place.

“A damp inspection is being arranged to see if there’s any underlying issue.

“Our neighbourhood housing team has also contacted the tenant to arrange to meet with her to discuss any further concerns she has with the property.”