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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Ivan Morris Poxton & Laura Sharman

Distressed woman says she can't escape damp living conditions even after moving house

A desperate tenant has said she is unable to escape damp living conditions even after moving to a new home.

Diana Ward, 42, claims she spent more than two years living in a property with a leaky roof that was plagued with damp.

She told Hull Live : "It was like it was raining through the roof."

Diana, from Hull, East Yorkshire, said the horrid damp continued despite repairs being made to the property, owned by women's centre Purple House.

She hoped her nightmare was over when she was relocated only to discover that her new home is also blighted with damp.

Photos appear to show peeling wallpaper (Katie Pugh)

Diana moved into the new house last weekend when bad weather amid Storm Eunice quickly highlighted the familiar issues.

She said: "It was pouring in the upstairs especially. The upstairs and the walls of my bedroom were absolutely soaked.

"We got local environmental health involved at the last property and we've got them involved again. I won't put up with it."

She added: "They've moved me basically from a warm house to a cold one."

Diana said she had spent two years living in a damp property before the move (Katie Pugh)

Diana said she moved into the first damp property in 2019 and that the problems were persistent, particularly upstairs due to the leaky roof.

At her new home, she said the heating did not work so a gas repair worker was dispatched within 24 hours and fixed it.

She claimed that the previous tenant had ripped out the internet wires but the dampness was her main concern following her previous ordeal.

The resident said the internet wires were also ripped out (Katie Pugh)

She said: "They didn't do anything about the damp.

"There was a bit of electrical stuff and some new doors and a couple of windows fitted.

"They put a socket under the boiler. Apart from that they didn't sort the roof at all."

The wall of her new upstairs bedroom has been the part of the house most severely affected by the damp, Diana said.

She is concerned for the health of her daughter who visits (Katie Pugh)

She told how she was on anti-depressants and that the thought of continuing to live for a long time in a damp house depressed her.

Diana lives alone in the house but said she is concerned for the health of her three-year-old daughter who regularly visits.

The mum said her ideal scenario would be to get the issues fixed as soon as possible.

"The damp, it's depressing. Otherwise, it's a nice house, actually," she said.

Diana said the thought of living in another damp property depresses her (Katie Pugh)

Purple House, also known as Preston Road Women's Centre, has been criticised by tenants over damp in the past.

In December, another Purple House tenant told of mould and damp problems at her property in Hull which she said was not addressed for nearly two years.

The Mirror has contacted Purple Housing for comment on the allegations.

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