Inside the £95-a-week Teesside home with plumbing ‘so bad’ the mum wants to be moved

A Teesside mum wants to be moved out of her home, amid claims her family are living inside a plumbing nightmare.

Andrea Dunn claims she’s sick of paying £95-a-week for a house where she can’t even wash before work. She claims problems, ranging from a troublesome toilet to water “cascading” through her Netherfields home, have blighted the Thirteen Group property for the best part of 15 years.

Apologizing for the experience she’s had, the firm insisted it was “working hard to try and resolve” the issues. However Andrea fumed: “I’m fed up of living like this. Put it this way, would you live without a toilet or a bath?”

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The issues started around 2007 when the family moved into the Newley Court property. After complaining the home needed an upgrade, she accepts Thirteen staff came and carried out “the works”. However, shortly after this, her problems started.

“Ever since then, I’ve had water cascading through my kitchen every year as soon as Autumn comes,” she claims. “For 15 years, the toilet has constantly blocked and this past couple of weeks it has got worse and worse.

“I’ve just had (a plumber) out this week to unblock it again. Over the years we’ve had everything done – but nothing has been resolved.”

Andrea Dunn inside the property she claims has been blighted by plumbing problems

Jake Irvine, director of repairs and maintenance at Thirteen said: “We’re very sorry that Ms Dunn has been experiencing these issues and we’re working hard to try and resolve them. We’ve been in contact with her about the plumbing and carried out work to remove a blockage last year. Ms Dunn contacted us again earlier this year and our colleagues attended to resolve the issue.

“We’re arranging another visit today to investigate further and to understand why the problem has re-occurred. We’ll also be talking to Ms Dunn about the options available to her around re-housing, and we’ll provide her with as much advice and support as we can.”

However Andrea feels the firm hasn’t done enough to fix the “nightmare” both her and the TS3 family have had with the property. “They lifted the floorboards up and I’ve been told on four different occasions the pipework’s are wrong,” she claims. “This is over a 15 year period, but it is still ongoing.

“Not last week but the week before, we got a 24 hour callout but nobody came. We were literally left without a toilet for 24 hours. They turned up the next morning at 9.05am, but nobody was in as we were at work. I got an apology for it, but that’s not good enough – there are three people living in this house that can’t fulfill their basic needs.

“You couldn’t use the bath because when you flush the toilet (the water) was coming up the bath, and when you pull the plug in the bath you can hear a bubbling noise. I had a man out last week who heard the same noise – it is just never ending.

“And now it is affecting me and my mental health. I’ve had enough. I want out the house, I’m tired of the circumstances and I’m tired of paying rent on a property when you basic need in the morning is to have a wash or a shower before work – use the toilet – and you can’t do it.

“I’ve told them numerous times I want out and that I’m sick to death of living the way we are.”

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