A CROPWELL Bishop mother says her housing association is ''turning a blind eye'' to a catalogue of faults and problems with her new-build home.
Mother-of-one Lisa Newbold, 43, moved into the end terrace two-bedroom house two years ago with her partner Steven Newbold.
Since they moved into the house, which they part-buy and part-rent from Waterloo Housing, they have stacked up a list of complaints: a leaking shower, draughty back door, major leak from a broken pipe which flooded part of the downstairs of the house; and a leaking hot water boiler.
When they called out an emergency plumber at their own expense to deal with the flood in October last year, they found discarded food packing behind the plaster boards.
Miss Newbold, a clerical officer, said: "I'm just at my wits' end with the list of problems we are having to deal with. The most recent is the leaking boiler, which I'm very concerned about. It could burst and it is a danger to our 10-week-old daughter.
"But every time we e-mail or call Waterloo Housing they just tell us it is our problem because the one year warranty on the house is over. But we pay half rent to them, so they have responsibility."
To deal with the original leak in October the Newbolds were told to call out a plumber. He couldn't find the source of the flood so made a hole in the wall to locate it.
"We paid for the emergency plumber and he managed to fix the problem, but he had to make a hole. All Waterloo Housing did when we told them was say the hole was our problem and they wouldn't fix it."
She added that finding the rubbish behind the plaster board was one of the more shocking incidents.
She said: "When they found the food packing we were disgusted. It's just not on, absolutely shoddy workmanship. Then in January we were putting the Christmas decorations away in the loft space and my partner lifted the insulation – out of curiosity and discovered yet more builders' rubbish under the insulation.
"The response from Waterloo was that we shouldn't have been lifting the insulation and we shouldn't store stuff in the loft as the solar panels could be a fire hazard."
The couple claim the double glazing in the back door is warped and they have had to put adhesive tape around the opening to prevent draughts and that their sinks do not drain properly.
"Waterloo Housing just continues to turn a blind eye to our problems, which we know other residents are experiencing with their homes, and don't even acknowledge most of our e-mails," added Miss Newbold.
Helen Newbury, group head of programme and performance at Waterloo, said: "We have visited Mr and Mrs Newbold at their home to discuss their concerns. We are working with the Newbolds and the developer to fully address and resolve the issues raised."
