Mum-to-be slams landlord as she's scared to turn the lights on in leaking home
A mum-to-be has told how she fears turning the lights on as she has slammed her landlord for leaving her in a leaky home.
Aisha Elsey-Bennett, 34, says she has been left putting towels down on the floor to soak up water, and that her home is cold and damp due to the leaks.
Now she says she is so desperate to move that she’s already packing up her belongings, despite not having anywhere to move to yet.
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Aisha, from Blackhall Colliery, told The Northern Echo: “I’m desperate to move as I cannot live like this anymore.
“There’s water coming through at the extension at the back of the house where the bathroom is and I’m having to put towels down on the floor to soak it up. It’s cold and it’s quite damp too.
“I turned the downstairs lights off at the fuse box last week because I’m scared to use them with the water coming through.
“I’m worried for what being here is doing to my baby and the lettings company seem to think it’s acceptable for me to live like this.
“They’ve sent someone round to try and fix it but the roof has just leaked again. It’s quite worrying knowing there’s more heavy rain to come.”
Aisha, who is just seven-weeks pregnant and is classed as having a high-risk pregnancy due to having disabilities, says she told her landlord about her condition. The mum-to-be said she felt she had to reveal her pregnancy earlier than 12 weeks as she was worried for her unborn baby.
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Her home in Blackhall Colliery is managed by lettings company Ready to Rent Management on behalf of a private landlord.
The firm have said they have now arranged for further works to be carried out at the property and will re-assess the health and safety risks after these have been completed.
A spokesperson for the lettings company said: “We share your concerns regarding Aisha and have been working with a local roofer to fix this issue since first reports of a roof problem on October 20. We asked a roofer to attend as soon as possible and he attended on October 27 and fixed it.
“We received a report of further leakage on November 1 and in response rebooked the roofer for November 23.
“After exceptional rainfall on November 17 we received a further call from Aisha and send a local builder with tarpaulin to make a temporary fix, but because of the heavy rain and wind they were unable to fix it safely.
“The roofer is due to revisit this week and we are optimistic of a good resolution. We will re-assess the health and safety risks following the roofer’s visit and take appropriate action.”
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