‘My house might split in two and the council hasn’t completed something about it’

A person who says his home may break up in two claims the council hasn’t completed something about it.

David Duckworth, 50, has been dwelling in his council home since 2010 and says it’s now affected by subsidence.

As a end result, he mentioned he’s fearful it’s “going to split in two” after he noticed cracks within the partitions.

Alongside the cracks, Mr Duckworth mentioned he has additionally had a gap in his ceiling for the previous two years.

Despite repeated calls to Nottingham City Council, Mr Duckworth mentioned he has not been capable of get the council to repair the multitude of issues affecting his property.

As effectively as subsidence and a gap in his ceiling, Mr Duckworth’s property additionally lacks a totally functioning rest room and has a severe damp drawback.

Speaking to NottinghamshireLive in regards to the gap Mr Duckworth mentioned: “When it rains, the water’s seeping through, and obviously, the rain’s got to go somewhere, and it’s making all the insulation damp.

“I’ve come to the point now where I’ve got sick of telling them my roof needs doing.

“I just want my house in a good state where I’m not having to cover my loft door to stop the draft coming through as well.”

A Nottingham City Council spokesperson mentioned the explanation why the opening hadn’t been repaired was due to an absence of scaffolding.

They mentioned: “The delay in getting the roof works completed at Mr Duckworth’s property has been caused by the limited availability of scaffolding.

We visited today [September 6] to assess the condition of the roof and agree on next steps, and will attend again in the morning [September 7] to complete as much of the work as possible from the inside of the house while we work towards a resolution to the scaffolding issue.”

One of the property’s different urgent issues is the shortage of a totally functioning rest room, an issue Nottingham City Council mentioned didn’t meet the factors for an emergency.

Mr Duckworth mentioned: “When I called, the lady told me I’d have to wait until October for someone to come out and to just empty the toilet with a bucket. I said ‘well, what about the excrements?’.

“I only have one toilet so my children have to use it as well and I’m having to plunge it but it’s not solving the problem.”

In a press release, the council mentioned: “The flush button on the toilet needs repairing, so to operate the flush, the lid of the cistern needs to be removed. 

“The nature of this fault does not meet the criteria for an emergency, so we will carry out the repair at the October appointment that Mr Duckworth has booked in with us.”

Alongside his crumbling property, Mr Duckworth’s is fearful about his youngsters and the way they is likely to be impacted.

He mentioned: “They go to the local school so they’re here pretty frequently.

“My son’s autistic and I keep thinking how dangerous it is for him to be in a bedroom where stuff is seeping through the ceiling.

“Moving is also not an option because my son has lived here all his life and he’s not adaptable to change a lot of the time.”