A mum-of-two who moved into a new home while heavily pregnant, has blasted her housing association for taking seven months to fix a long list of existing repairs, including damp and a mice infestation.

Laken Smith couldn't believe Together Housing had not brought the house she was due to move into, on Fielding Crescent in Blackburn, up to standard before handing her the keys in March.

The 31-year-old said they failed to reply to complaints in a timely manner and would not help with pest control, leaving her to foot a £220 bill to rid her house of mice.

Lancashire Telegraph:

She said: "When I moved in I had mice in my kitchen, a garden full of glass, plastics, medical waste and various other household waste including bits of cars, which resulted in me having to rehome my dog because Together Housing would not accept responsibility for the mess and I didn't have the money to immediately make it safe for her.

Lancashire Telegraph:

"I spent months being too scared to sit in my house alone, and couldn't go in the kitchen as I could hear the mice running around and scratching inside the walls."

Ms Laken said even her young daughter didn't want to stay in the house and had to go to her dad's.

She added: "I've only been in the house for about six months months, and the mice were there before they handed the property over to me."

Explaining how she had to have her kitchen floor screeded before she moved in, Ms Laken said it was still uneven to the point where her appliances didn't sit straight.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Continuing, she said: "Together Housing told me they wouldn't fix the problem as they were just told to make the floor level, but they didn't even do that properly.

"I placed a bottle on the floor and filmed it rolling from one side of the kitchen to the other to show how uneven it was."

In addition to the already mentioned issues, Ms Laken said there were nails sticking out of the floorboards on the stairs, some of the walls had plaster hanging off, there was damp in her daughter's bedroom and scaffolding that had been erected so workmen could change lead around the chimney had broken the flagstones in the garden.

Lancashire Telegraph:

She added: "My housing officer was actually the only one who helped me through all this and fought my corner, and luckily she has been able to get them to agree to repay the money to me for the pest control.

"However, how they don't bring their houses up to standard before handing them over is beyond me."

Lancashire Telegraph:

Head of property care for Together Housing, Angela Stuttard, said: “We are aware of the issues raised by Ms Smith and sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused by the need for repairs to the property.

"Aside from one outstanding repair which will be addressed by our technician in an appointment this Friday, there are no outstanding repairs and we have contacted Ms Smith today to confirm this.

"We will review Ms Smith’s customer experience and take measures to review and improve our service.”