Northampton woman 'at the end of her tether' with cold home that has rats and floods every time it rains

The Kingsthorpe woman claims she has been trying to reach Northampton Partnership Homes for almost three years to resolve the issues with no success
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A 49-year-old woman from Kingsthorpe says she feels "unsafe" in her house, provided by Northampton Partnership Homes (NPH).

The woman, who wants to remain anonymous, has lived in her Kingsthorpe home with her daughter for 21 years. However, for the last two-and-a-half years, she claims to have endured rotting wooden windows, rats, a broken vent that makes walking into the kitchen feel like walking outside and flooding every time it rains.

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The disgruntled resident said: "We are just at the end of our tether. Me and my daughter live here on our own and we just don't feel safe. She's nearly 27 and she should still feel secure in her own home.

The NPH home has faulty and "rotting" doors and windows that cause the house to flood every time it rains.The NPH home has faulty and "rotting" doors and windows that cause the house to flood every time it rains.
The NPH home has faulty and "rotting" doors and windows that cause the house to flood every time it rains.

"I can't get hold of our housing officer because there are no details for them. The phone just rings and rings and rings and then you get cut off and you have to start all over again."

The main problem the resident says she faces is her faulty wooden front door, which she claims floods the hallway every time it rains with water pouring through the door's letterbox and through the rotting wooden landing window.

The resident said that a housing officer from NPH came to her home in October 2019 and said that her wooden doors and windows need to be replaced. She is still waiting for that to happen.

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She continued: "He got a bit of silicone and put it around the door. The water pours in through the letterbox and through the window. We dare not touch the landing window because we fear it will fall out.

Water pours through the resident's front door every time it rains.Water pours through the resident's front door every time it rains.
Water pours through the resident's front door every time it rains.

"The front door is still wood, you have to kick it to get through it and sometimes it gets stuck.

"My whole stairs and landing carpet, it cost me £1,000 to get it fitted. I have not got that kind of money to keep replacing it every time it floods. I have to keep a towel by my front door so it does not soak into my carpet."

The kitchen window has an old vent fitted to it, which makes walking into the kitchen feel like "walking outside", according to the resident.

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The resident says she has reported these issues repeatedly to NPH through their app, which the housing provider advised her to do. She claims, however, that - when she has done this - the reports just disappear after a while and nothing comes of them.

The resident does not dare to touch her landing window for fear it will fall out.The resident does not dare to touch her landing window for fear it will fall out.
The resident does not dare to touch her landing window for fear it will fall out.

The resident described how, in September 2021, her back door fell from its hinges and a housing officer from NPH secured it because the resident and her daughter were going on holiday. The man, after securing the door, had to then climb the neighbour's fence through to their garden to get out.

The 49-year-old resident then had to wait a further two months for the door to be fixed properly.

She said: "I could not go out into my back garden for two whole months because I could not get out the door.

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"There's all holes in the roof. That is how next door's rats are coming across because there's lots of holes and it has never been finished properly."

The resident also claims that many neighbours in the area are having their plastic windows and doors replaced by the housing provider, while she is still waiting on her old and faulty wooden door and windows to be replaced.

She added: "It's like they don't care but I still pay my rent and council tax every week."

The resident additionally claims that she was never given an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for her home, which rates a property's energy efficiency. Homes are rated from Band A to G, with A being the most efficient with the cheapest fuel bills.

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It is a legal requirement for housing providers in England and Wales to get an EPC rating of band E or above to let their properties to new tenancies or renewals.

The Chronicle & Echo approached NPH to ask why the Kingsthorpe resident's reports have not been addressed and what they plan to do about her living situation. The housing provider responded on Wednesday (February 23).

Director of property maintenance and compliance at NPH, Gary Duckmanton, said: “I am sorry to hear that [the resident] is experiencing issues in her home.

"I have arranged for her housing officer and a member of the repairs team to visit [the resident] on Thursday (February 24) to investigate everything she has raised.”

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