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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Rahima Miah & Ryan Merrifield

Disabled woman and partner STILL living in tent NINE weeks after house burnt down

A disabled woman and her boyfriend are still living in a tent nine weeks after their house burned down.

The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, believe the blaze, which gutted their home in Hull, East Yorkshire, was an arson attack.

Due to her needs, the woman has struggled to find suitable accommodation and alongside her partner has been living in a tent in a friend's garden.

She said police found an aerosol can outside her property in west Gypsyville which is believed to have led to the fire.

But says it was not left there by the occupants.

The scene of the house fire in Gypsyville (MEN MEDIA/HULL LIVE)

She described her shock when police smashed down her door to let the fire brigade in.

"They found an aerosol can in the garden which was not left by us. I knew it had to be somebody else who did it," she added.

The house is now ready to be moved back into but the couple fear returning due to their suspicions they were targeted.

In the meantime, the woman has been contacting the council and other organisations in an effort to find a new home.

"I've tried housing associations. I've tried private rent but a lot of them won't take unemployed tenants," she explained.

"I've been into the council but if you go to the Wilson Centre now nobody works in there. It's all telephones and we're just really struggling to find somewhere."

The tent is large enough for them to fit in a bed and a TV but the woman says that she walked away from her house with "barely anything".

Now that the weather is starting to get cold she is struggling further and dreads the winter.

The couple are desperately looking for a new home (MEN MEDIA/HULL LIVE)

She said: "The cold and the damp is setting in now so it's making my disability and illnesses worse.

"I suffer from spondylosis, endometriosis and arthritis, so all the damp and cold is making it worse."

The woman said that she went to Hull City Council for help but all they could offer her was the William Booth House hostel in Hull.

However, she claims that they refused to accommodate both her and her partner in the hostel because he was not on the tenancy agreement for her house.

She said that the hostel would not be appropriate for her as she needs regular care and for her partner to help her with getting dressed.

She also suffers with anxiety and knew that living in a hostel on her own would be hard.

"I keep trying all these places but I'm really struggling. They kept offering us a hostel but they would only put me in it but I need my partner for certain needs," she said.

The woman lived in her house for 14 years with a previous partner and when he left she took over the tenancy before meeting her current boyfriend.

Her landlord's insurance allowed for them to initially stay in a hotel for four weeks.

She said: "The fire started in the garden and spread quite fast into the kitchen and bathroom and everything else was so badly damaged I was advised to leave certain things behind as it would cause chest problems on top of the problems I already have."

Her partner's brother put out a Facebook post appealing for help from the public with their situation and some people in the comments suggested they go to the council.

Her partner replied with the claim that the council said that there is a housing crisis at the moment with 11,000 people waiting for a home so his only option is for them to stay in a tent at the moment.

The Mirror has contacted Hull City Council and Hull Police for comment.

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