Tenant's anger at state of property in Middleton-in-Teesdale

A HOME beset by leaks, damp and delays to repairs has led a vet receptionist to speak out.

Jill Hirst has lived in the centre of Middleton-in-Teesdale for almost five years in a North Star Housing property.

The 53-year-old has had to put up with a litany of repair delays, boiler faults, window leaks, damp carpets and slug invasions at her rented four-bedroom home with her husband. And she’s had enough.

Mrs Hirst said: “My husband is not keen on going for the jugular but I am and most people think it’s well past time.

“The problem is people keep coming to the properties, getting fed up and leaving rather than saying something.

“I have told them countless times.”

Problems with damp began soon after the couple moved into their new Market Place home in 2012.

Mrs Hirst recorded videos of water getting in through windows and making its way in through the front door.

“I have ankylosing spondylosis and asthma which should not be exposed to damp conditions,” she added.

“When it got round to Storm Desmond water was pouring in because they had not done anything about the previous leak.

“I got a water soluble pencil and you could watch it get washed away by water running down the wall.” But the problems didn’t end there.

Mrs Hirst said leaking water has caused the carpets to smell and the home’s boiler has been the subject of an ongoing saga.

She added: “Their response was ‘I can’t smell anything’. They were very flippant.

“We have had someone out for the boiler four times – the third time we were without hot water for a week and this time it was seven days at

least.

“They have one oil fitter based in Scarborough and it takes days to get someone out. When they came out they said it was going to take so many days to get the part – rather than just going down to Maxwells and getting it.

“If I wanted I proper wash I had to go elsewhere.”

North Star, the parent company of Teesdale Housing Association, was named in the top 0.5 per cent of companies in the UK by Investors in People Platinum for management and leadership. Mrs Hirst said the award stuck in her craw.

“Their customer service is absolutely terrible,” she added.

“They say they’ll be out but they seem to think you can drop everything – just because you live in a Housing Association home people think you’re the dregs of society and it does not mean you will be there 24 hours a day.

“My husband is running two businesses and he has to leave his job to come back – losing money every time.” The couple did manage to claim back five months of free rent after complaining about their living conditions.

However, that process was not smooth.

Mrs Hirst added: “I had to stand there ranting and complaining about the service – when it did happen they put the wrong name on the cheque – they seemed to think that was funny.

“We love the house and we love being in Middleton – these houses would be wonderful if they were looked after but in this day and age to be in a house as a person with a long term disability is just ridiculous.

Staindrop’s George Stennett has lived at Coronation Terrace for the past two years and also had one or two misgivings about his North Star property. The former TV engineer said: “All the ceilings are cracked but they would not replace it. All the skirting boards are odd.

“I am really tempted to pay for it myself but it’s annoying when it’s a housing association flat.”

Mr Stennett also cuts the council owned grass in front of his house as council cuts left grass clippings.

“I do not know when the houses were last modernised – I think age is catching up with them,” he added.

“You just cannot get anything done.”

North Star has apologised for the sub standard service.

A spokesperson for North Star said: “As a local landlord we strive to deliver quality services to our tenants. Working with our tenants, we carefully select contractors who share our commitment and values. On this occasion our service has fallen short of the standards that we expect and we are sorry for this.

“We have been working with the tenants at Market Place to make improvements to their home and we will continue to work closely with them to remedy their issues.”

The housing association has 825 properties in Teesdale, of which about 58 per cent of tenants receive housing benefits.

After installing her own shower, having scaffolding outside her house for months on end and witnessing her next door neighbour’s door fall on a visitor, Mrs Hirst wasn’t backing down. She said: “It’s not just for us – people go through these houses over and over again.”