A teenager has spoken of his disappointment after getting the keys to his own home before finding "about 100" issues with the property.
19-year-old Marcus, who doesn't wish to reveal his last name, was looking forward to getting settled in his new flat in Churchdown, Gloucestershire, but said he hasn't been able to move in because of problems, including broken radiators, holes in walls and loose flooring.
The young carpentry apprentice claimed he'd been grappling with his housing provider, Bromford, to get the issues fixed, but said the whole situation has been a "terrible experience".
Instead of moving into the shared ownership property, Marcus is now having to live at another property in Cheltenham while he makes the repairs himself.
Marcus was handed the keys to his new flat on November 8 last year, and claimed to have informed the sales representative of all the problems he found shortly afterward.
He told Gloucestershire Live: “On November 15 I contacted the sales representative in charge of my flat about all the snags I had found after properly looking over the flat.
"At this point, I had about 100 snags, with a lot of them being major snags like potholes all the way up my stairs, and radiators not working.”
The teen said that other issues included an unlevel skirting board, holes in the kitchen walls, damaged coverings, cabinet doors that needed replacing, and a leaking boiler and letterbox.
He added that the flooring in the bathroom and kitchen hadn't been fixed down, and that door handles were missing key structural screws.
Despite his complaints, Marcus claimed the situation was still unresolved.
He said: “They still haven’t rectified anything and more problems keep popping up, like new radiators leaking.”
Marcus’s mother, Julie, said he has been "treated like dirt" by the housing association.
“He is 19 years old, working 14 hours a day trying to fix the damage himself and working weekends to cover his bills. Bromford have escalated his complaint but still nothing has been rectified, two months after he received the keys.
“It is heartbreaking watching someone strive to succeed and being treated like dirt," she said.
Bromford’s director of sales and marketing, Catherine Jarretty, told Gloucestershire Live that it was "committed to providing homes of the highest quality" and was "sorry that Marcus does not think we have lived up to the standards".
She added: “We have already rectified many of the snags he has reported over the past couple of months and our customer care team is in regular contact with him to discuss and fix the remaining ones as soon as possible.
"We’d like to thank him for his patience and apologise for any inconvenience while we complete this work.”
