A Market Drayton father has criticised Meres and Mosses Housing Association after being left homeless for the past three months.
Daniel Watton, his wife and the couple’s two children have been homeless since December 20 when a fire ripped through their home in Wollerton causing substantial damage.
The painter and decorator has since seen a number of “deadlines” pass for when his family was supposed to move back in and he believes he is being discriminated against due to his traveller background.
Daniel said: “We’ve been homeless now for over 12 weeks and are being forced to stay with my dad in a one bedroom bungalow.
“There’s me, my wife, my two kids and dogs all living with my dad who has been sleeping on the sofa for all this time.
“For the first eight or nine weeks absolutely nothing was done. Then when work finally did start, as a former council employee I was asked to help – I did only to be told I wasn’t covered on the insurance so couldn’t help.
“Now the work has almost come to a stop. They set a deadline of two weeks ago for it all to be completed but there is still lots of work to be done.”
Daniel said he felt the work that had been done hadn’t been of the right standard.
He said: “I come from a traveller family and we do have a bit of a reputation in town. I see other homes need work and it all gets sorted quickly and in the right way – why are we any different? I think it must be because I am a gipsy.
“I’ve now paid 12 weeks rent without living in my house. But the work that needs doing could have been completed in weeks if they had a gang of five men working on it.
“I’ve lived in the house for 15 years, prior to that my parents lived there for five years. My great nan lived in it 90 years ago and my nan was in it as a kid. It’s a family home.
“There has been no effort. The fire wasn’t our fault but we’re not being given any help and I am sick of it.”
The head of housing at Shropshire Housing Group – Meres & Mosses’ parent company – Nirmal Samrai, said: “We are disappointed that there have been delays which have meant Mr Watton and his family have been unable to return to their home.
“On investigation it seems that there has been miscommunication on our side which led to delays in the repair work being started, along with requests for additional work from Mr Watton that were not part of the original schedule, which delayed the completion.
“We are extremely sorry for our part in the delay and we are pleased to say that the property is now habitable. We are keen for the family to be able to return as soon as they are able. Our whole team holds itself to a higher standard than this and we will be looking to learn from any errors.”
By Joseph Masi