Facing homelessness mum-to-be 'cried out and stressed out'

A young Derry mum-to-be fears she will go into early labour due to the stress of being made homeless in three weeks’ time.

With just five weeks to go until her baby is due, she told Derry News she was “cried out and stressed out”.

“Three days after I was told I needed to get out of the house because it was being put up for sale, I ended up in the foetal maternal assessment unit in Altnagelvin,” she said.

One private rented household made homeless per day in Derry

78 private rented households presented as homeless between April and June 2023

“I am so angry. I paid £550 rent every month for the past three years, just to be told to get out. I can’t think straight at the minute.

“I just don’t know where the baby, my partner and I are going to live. My partner’s brother, who has learning disabilities, also lives with us. It is a horrendous situation and I can see no resolution,” said the healthcare worker, who wished to remain anonymous.”

The woman and her partner moved into the house three years ago. She said their subsequent treatment by the landlord (letting agent) had been 'nothing short of despicable'.

“When I viewed the house it was a complete mess so I told the letting agent I could not take it,” she recalled.

“He told me the previous tenant had done extensive damage to the property and had been evicted as a result. He then reassured me the house was being repaired and would be habitable in a couple of weeks.

“On that occasion, there was no downstairs flooring in the house and no carpet on the stairs. There was dirt everywhere and it was full of workmen who appeared to be cleaning the mess in the hallway.

“I realised what a huge mistake I had made the very first day I moved in. The weather was awful. There was bad snow and frost and that very same day we had to ring regarding the heating, which was not working.

“The letting agent got a man to come down that evening and he told us the boiler had never been serviced in his time. We had no central heating for a few days. 

“We were also told the boiler would be renewed as it was burnt out. The boiler was never sorted. We never had hot water,” she said.

The woman and her partner spent a considerable about of money trying to make their home more habitable.

She said: “In April 2020, the house was fully painted and papered. We also bought a cooker as the last tenant had apparently destroyed the oven, which was not replaced by the landlord.

“In June 2020, we had the downstairs flooring fitted. In September 2020, we installed venetian blinds throughout the house because all of the windows were bare.

“Decorating the house was a long process as we simply had to do it step-by-step due to the price of things, alongside paying the rent.

“The inside PVC door had been busted and it was literally polystyrene foam. The landlord told us not to worry as he had ordered a replacement door. There was a draft coming straight in the front door and the house was freezing. 

“We never received a new door and due to the weather conditions, we were putting 500 litres of oil in the tank every turn about, which was very, very expensive. No matter how long the heat was on, the house was still Baltic because we didn’t have an inside door. 

“Eventually, we bought a door at our own expense. It cost £200. We were just fed up trying to get the letting agent or the landlord to carry out repairs to the house,” she said.

On top of all this, the shower in the house was leaking and there was black mould inside it.

“No matter how much we cleaned it, it always came back. But, to this day, the shower has not been fixed. We were just told not to use it,” she said.

“Everytime we arranged for the landlord to come down and see what repairs needed done, something unforeseen happened at his end. It was just one excuse after another.

“Then, on January 2, 2022, we woke to the sound of water running. I thought someone had left a tap on. When we came out of the bedroom, the upstairs ceiling had caved in and there was water gushing down to the bottom floor of the house. The kitchen was flooded. The electrics were shot.

“It turned out there had been no overflow pipe in the water tank and the water had been basically lying on the floor. The whole house was destroyed. I rang the landlord several times without success.

“On January 5, when we had got a plumber to the house ourselves, I rang the letting agent again. He answered and said I had done the right thing sorting out the plumber. He spoke to the plumber on the phone and agreed the plumber should work away and for me to ring when the work was finished and he would pay the bill,” she said.

Unfortunately, the plumber was not happy to do the full job without the landlord being onsite. 

“The plumber told me he would do a quick fix of a ball cock. When the work was finished, I contacted the landlord again. 

“He wouldn’t answer the phone, so I had to pay the plumber, who told us the upstairs floor would need to be dug up and re-piped and it is a big job and would cost thousands of pounds,” she said.

“The house was then in a big mess from water damage. We heard nothing from the landlord about repairing the damage from the leak, so, in October, we booked to have the house re-plastered, which cost us £550.

“In July there, I messaged him about the dampness in the kitchen and he agreed to come down and visit the house. But he cancelled again, due to another unforeseen emergency. He never rescheduled.

“I am pregnant and we have spent more than £3,000 decorating the house and all for nothing. 

“The damp is awful and we have now been told we have to get out of the house, which has been put up for sale as it is in such a terrible state and the owner just wants to sell it. I just don’t know what to do.”