A single mum faces being evicted with her three children after complaining about the conditions inside her home.
Ellie Ferguson told how she's been forced to sleep in the living room of her home in Neston, Wirral, with her daughters, who are aged between 21 months and 13 years olds, due to the amount of damp and mould growing in the upstairs bedrooms and bathroom.
Ellie said the issues are so bad her baby daughter has been admitted to A&E at Ormskirk Hospital with recurrent chest infections, which left her struggling to breathe. Ellie has also suffered from breathing difficulties and both have been prescribed antibiotics.
A letter, written by Ellie's doctor at Neston Medical Centre and seen by the ECHO, states the property, which she rents from a private landlord, "is quite damp" and "is leading to issues with her kids including her youngest who has had a couple of admissions to the A&E department, and reviews here with respiratory infections".
READ MORE: Fraudster stole £20,000 from estate agents and spent it on Jaguar and Lego
READ MORE: Bus driver accidentally killed friend while reversing at 3mph
The letter adds that Ellie is also "struggling with mental health which is being exacerbated by this current situation" and doctors feels "it would be beneficial for her to be prioritised on the housing list."
Ellie said her landlord has now told her the rent will increase from £800 to £900 a month, starting on February 1. However, she has also been issued with a Section 21 eviction notice which states she must leave the address by today (January 31.)
The mum-of-three first started noticing damp inside the three bedroom home a few weeks after she moved in last February. She told the ECHO: "I first started noticing around the 24th February there were damp patches coming through.
"I told him [the landlord] about it. In the first few months he seemed to be really helpful and he was going to do something about it.
"He sent a few roofers round and seemed to be fixing things. Then these damp patches kept coming back and then mould started growing in the bedrooms and bathroom."
Ellie said a surveyor was sent to the house and she was under the impression that they had recommended for the roof to be replaced. However, she said this didn't happen and instead a contractor was sent to look at the gutters and reseal them.
Ellie said: "That stopped the leaking and some of the damage for a month or so, then it started coming back even worse around July."
It was around that time that Ellie said she noticed a crack had appeared on the bathroom ceiling and she sent a photo of this to her landlord. Just after she sent the photo, Ellie said: "My daughter had a shower.
"She got out of the shower and just as she was leaving the bathroom a massive chuck of the ceiling fell down onto the floor in the bathroom."
Photos show a large chunk of plaster missing from the bathroom ceiling that has fallen into the bath below. Ellie said she sent these photos to her landlord who said someone would come out to fix the issue.
However, she claims the work was superficial and never went far enough to resolve the damp and mould issues. Ellie said: "It got to August and my baby daughter was in hospital because she couldn't breathe.
"She had a really bad chest infection caused by this damp. The amount of times we've gone away at weekends and it's seemed to have cleared up and then it seems to come back just as bad when she goes home.
"She still gets reoccurring chest infections now. I got this chest infection that affected me to the point where I couldn't breathe. I was being sick because I couldn't breathe."
Ellie said she has contacted Cheshire West and Chester Council on a number of occasions about the issues, and they have contacted her landlord. She's since been given access to Property Pool Plus (an affordable housing lettings service) to bid on houses but is yet to find a suitable property to move into.
Ellie said she has since contacted her solicitor who has asked for an independent survey on the house to be carried out. The report, seen by the ECHO, said £8,000 worth of work needs to be carried out by the landlord, including "roof repairs", "poor brickwork" and "mould and condensation" in the rear bedroom.
The ECHO has approached Ellie's landlord for comment. A spokesperson for Cheshire West and Chester Council said: "The tenant contacted the council to raise issues and we have been working with them and the landlord since July last year to find a resolution.
"The most recent repairs that have been completed may prove to be effective and the tenant has agreed to update us after the next heavy rainfall to establish if they have been successful. The housing team have contacted the tenant for an update in the last few days.
"We will remain in contact with the tenant and the landlord to get the matter resolved as quickly as possible to the satisfaction of the tenant. Housing options are actively working with the tenant, providing advice and offering support regarding the potential threat of homelessness stemming from a Section 21 notice."
There are many ways to keep up with news in Liverpool and our website is just one. Below you can find details about our premium app with a smooth interface, and no adverts. You will also find links to our breaking whatsapp community, Facebook page, our in-depth Daily Post newsletter.
Try the Liverpool Echo Premium app and get the first month free
Don’t miss the biggest and breaking news by joining our dedicated WhatsApp community. R
The Liverpool Daily Post newsletter delves into the biggest stories on Merseyside