'It's disgusting and heartbreaking to see my mum have to live in this Northampton council flat'
A Northampton woman says she has been living with water and filth leaking from the flat above hers for six months – and nothing has been done to fix it.
Miatta Dakinah, 65, who is recovering from a recent stroke, lives in a ground floor flat in the Spring Boroughs estate, provided to her by Northampton Partnership Homes (NPH), West Northamptonshire Council’s Arm's Length Management Organisation.
Miatta says water has been dripping from her upstairs neighbour’s bathroom into her flat, destroying the ceiling. When the ceiling started to decay and fall off, she says she was left to clean it up herself. She says NPH has not fixed it despite repeated calls for help. The problem is now spreading to her living room, making daily life difficult. Her son Joseph said the situation is “heartbreaking and disgusting” to watch.
Miatta said: "Right now I can’t use the bathroom. I was able to use it and manage it before but now I can’t. The water and the ceiling keeps coming down on me. Sometimes it’s coming with mould. I don’t know which germs and diseases that could have on it. I’m afraid of the germs or whatever diseases I’m going to get on me.
“I’m going to my daughter’s to shower. I cannot use the commode because it’s dripping on me.
“It’s started to come through to the living room. The whole ceiling is soaked with water.”
Miatta has tried on multiple occasions to raise it with NPH but says she has gotten nowhere, and the latest phone call saw her threaten to stop paying rent.
She said: “I called last week to ask what’s going on and said I need my bathroom. They told me they cannot get hold of the people who live upstairs. Once their bathroom is fixed, then I won’t have the problem downstairs.
"I told them I won’t pay my rent (£500 per month) until they come and fix this place, then they said it’s illegal to withhold the rent. I said what about it being illegal to pay rent in my flat that isn’t being properly fixed. And that’s how it’s been left. That’s why I came to the newspaper."
Miatta’s son Joseph said: "It is disgusting and heartbreaking for me to see my mum living there. She has anxiety sleeping because she’s afraid of the ceiling caving in whilst she’s sleeping. I am worried about her health because I don’t know if it’s asbestos. Her grandkids can’t even come around because she’s afraid of it coming down."
An NPH spokeswoman said: “We understand the ongoing concern regarding a leak affecting one of our residents. The leak is suspected to be from a flat above the NPH managed property. The property directly above our resident’s is not managed by NPH. We have made multiple repair appointments to inspect and resolve the cause of the leak but so far our teams have been unable to gain access. We will continue to work with affected residents to help resolve the leak as quickly as possible and get a new ceiling put into place.”
NPH manages over 11,300 social housing homes on behalf of West Northamptonshire Council (WNC).
In November 2024, a judgement was published by the Regulator of Social Housing, which graded NPH as C3, the second worst rating available, suggesting “serious failings” and the need for “significant improvement”. NPH was contacted for comment at the time but did not respond.
The inspection came after West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) referred itself to the regulator in September 2024, following a review that found NPH was not managing and maintaining properties in line with safety and quality standards, including a lack of safety inspections.