Mum-of-five claims she has been waiting for repairs to her council flat - for seven years

A mother-of-five claims she has been waiting for repairs to her council flat - for seven years.

Leona Christie said she has lived with mould and a broken door since 2014 and her flat “needs repairs in every room”.

She claims the council has not attended to address the issues and now she is at her wits’ end, the Yorkshire Post reports.

Sewage, mould and a hole in the wall

Leona moved into her flat with her partner in 2014 and said she has chased the council for repairs ever since.

Issues include a hole in the wall of one daughter’s bedroom and mould in her other girls’ room.

The house also has cracked bathroom tiles and draft coming from under the bathtub.

She also claims the front door poses a fire hazard because it has slumped in its frame and her kitchen appliances are being held up by bricks.

The mum said she had to deal with sewage coming up through her bathtub, mould and a hole in the wall in her children’s bedroom, and rotten cladding outside the windows.

‘Moving into this flat was the worst decision of my life’

Leona, who lives in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, said: "It’s just rubbish. I look around every single day and think about the safety of my kids.

"Moving into this flat was the worst decision of my life. It feels like nothing will ever be done. Part of me just wants to blow it up and start again.”

Leona claims 14 inspectors have carried out assessments, but the council has not attended her Fox Hill flat to help resolve the issues in almost eight years.

Workmen did turn up in August 2020 - but the mother did not feel it was safe to let them in due to the pandemic.

She added: "I’ve had about 14 inspectors come in the past two years.

“They come, look around, say they will be in touch and nothing happens. The last was about a month ago.

"It’s just been hard for me. I’m so tired of it. I’m shipping my kids off to my dad’s this weekend so I can empty the rooms and take pictures to show how bad it is.

"It’s just not a place to raise someone.”

What the council said

Councillor Paul Wood, executive member for housing at Sheffield City Council, said: “The Covid pandemic has caused a repairs backlog and we’re working through it as quickly as we can.

"We carry out 2,200 repairs and respond to 360 emergency repairs in our council homes every week. We have 6,300 outstanding repairs and 377 officers to carry out these repairs.

"Urgent and emergency work remains our priority and we are working within time limits for these call-outs.

"Our operations manager is contacting the tenant today to discuss the outstanding work.”

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