Rental house puts mum in hospital several times thanks to mouldy bathroom
- 3 months ago
A mum says her 'horror' rented home has seen her repeatedly hospitalised - including falling through the floor and a ceiling collapsing on her head.
Disabled mother-of-three Victoria Parkhill, 45, has been living in the sheltered housing after an accident left her with a broken neck.
She says the home has rotten floors, flooding and severe mould -- and left her having to eat and sleep in the lounge.
Victoria has lived in the property in Watchet, Somerset, since October 2010 - after she moved in following an accident where she broke her neck.
She hoped the new home would accommodate her accessibility needs - but she said "everything that could go wrong, did go wrong".
A downstairs wet room which was built so Victoria could shower became mouldy and covered in rust, she says.
When Victoria notified her housing association she said they sent workers to paint over it.
But the underlying problems went unresolved, resulting in the rotten wet room floor collapsing suddenly and Victoria suffered a violent fall into the floor.
She split open her head and was taken to hospital - and later was in A&E again after
her ceiling crashed down onto her.
Victoria said the incidents have left her with a damaged disc and ongoing issues with her back.
Victoria said: "I have cried every day I feel like I have the weight of the world - my children are severely ill, terribly poorly.
"It’s been awful as me and my son, 15, are so poorly coughing again he had a asthma attack last night and still no news. It has been hell."
But the violent fall was just the beginning of Victoria's problems with the house.
Her family's festive season was ruined when Victoria's 8-year-old daughter Isla woke her up shouting 'Mommy the house is flooded!'
A leaking upstairs tap had filled the ground floor with a foot of water overnight, blowing out the electricity, destroying appliances and wrecking the kitchen.
Victoria said: "I will never forget waking up and seeing water pouring out of a tap that wasn't even turned on. It was horrific, my ankles were in water.
"But it is now day 43 since this flood - and they still have not done a single thing.
"The floors still have water underneath - it's absolutely devastating and the smell is just disgusting."
She said Magna housing association, who own the property, failed to attend to the waterlogged ceiling for over a month, until it deteriorated so much the plaster blew and rained down on Victoria and her dog in early February.
While a Magna surveyor agreed they would fix the ceiling, they provided no date, and did not make any attempt to fix it before it partially fell down, she says.
The crumbling plaster ceiling left the family unable to eat in the dining room and retreating to the lounge for breakfast lunch and dinner.
She said Magna have refused to fix much of the damage, leaving Victoria and her family with waterlogged floors, warped doors, and a damp house.
Disabled mother-of-three Victoria Parkhill, 45, has been living in the sheltered housing after an accident left her with a broken neck.
She says the home has rotten floors, flooding and severe mould -- and left her having to eat and sleep in the lounge.
Victoria has lived in the property in Watchet, Somerset, since October 2010 - after she moved in following an accident where she broke her neck.
She hoped the new home would accommodate her accessibility needs - but she said "everything that could go wrong, did go wrong".
A downstairs wet room which was built so Victoria could shower became mouldy and covered in rust, she says.
When Victoria notified her housing association she said they sent workers to paint over it.
But the underlying problems went unresolved, resulting in the rotten wet room floor collapsing suddenly and Victoria suffered a violent fall into the floor.
She split open her head and was taken to hospital - and later was in A&E again after
her ceiling crashed down onto her.
Victoria said the incidents have left her with a damaged disc and ongoing issues with her back.
Victoria said: "I have cried every day I feel like I have the weight of the world - my children are severely ill, terribly poorly.
"It’s been awful as me and my son, 15, are so poorly coughing again he had a asthma attack last night and still no news. It has been hell."
But the violent fall was just the beginning of Victoria's problems with the house.
Her family's festive season was ruined when Victoria's 8-year-old daughter Isla woke her up shouting 'Mommy the house is flooded!'
A leaking upstairs tap had filled the ground floor with a foot of water overnight, blowing out the electricity, destroying appliances and wrecking the kitchen.
Victoria said: "I will never forget waking up and seeing water pouring out of a tap that wasn't even turned on. It was horrific, my ankles were in water.
"But it is now day 43 since this flood - and they still have not done a single thing.
"The floors still have water underneath - it's absolutely devastating and the smell is just disgusting."
She said Magna housing association, who own the property, failed to attend to the waterlogged ceiling for over a month, until it deteriorated so much the plaster blew and rained down on Victoria and her dog in early February.
While a Magna surveyor agreed they would fix the ceiling, they provided no date, and did not make any attempt to fix it before it partially fell down, she says.
The crumbling plaster ceiling left the family unable to eat in the dining room and retreating to the lounge for breakfast lunch and dinner.
She said Magna have refused to fix much of the damage, leaving Victoria and her family with waterlogged floors, warped doors, and a damp house.