A DISABLED mother of three was left requiring hospital treatment after she fell through the floor of her socially rented 'house of horrors' before part of the ceiling collapsed on her head. 

Victoria Parkhill, 45, who has been living in sheltered housing since an accident left her with a broken neck, has spoken out after rotten floors, flooding and mould have left her injured and her family unwell and having to eat and sleep in the lounge. 

Ms Parkhill has lived in the property in Watchet, Somerset, since a freak fall down the stairs cut short her dreams of joining the police force. She hoped the home would accommodate her accessibility needs, but she said "everything that could go wrong, did go wrong." 

A downstairs wet room which was built so Ms Parkhill could shower became mouldy and covered in rust. When Ms Parkhill notified her housing association of the issue, she said they sent workers to paint over it. 

But the underlying problems went unresolved, resulting in the rotten wet room floor collapsing suddenly. Ms Parkhill suffered a violent fall which split open her head and left her needing hospital treatment. 

Ms Parkhill said the incident had left her with a damaged disk and ongoing issues with her back. 

Ms Parkhill suffered injuries to her back and required hospital treatment after falling through a hole in the floor
Ms Parkhill suffered injuries to her back and required hospital treatment after falling through a hole in the floor (Tindle )

When a surveyor came to assess the damage they were "disgusted" by the workmanship, Ms Parkhill said, and condemned the entire room after it became clear it had become irreparably rotten. 

However the cavity in the floor was at first only filled with sand and covered over with lino which was taped down. It wasn’t until after Ms Parkhill asked her MP to intervene that her landlord rebuilt the room.

But the violent fall was just the beginning of Ms Parkhill's problems with the house. Her family's festive season was ruined when on the morning of December 27, Ms Parkhill's 8-year-old daughter Isla woke her up shouting 'Mommy the house is flooded!' 

A leaking upstairs tap had filled the ground floor with a foot of water overnight, blowing out the electricity, destroying appliances and wrecking the kitchen and flooring. 

But Magna housing association, who own the property, failed to attend to the waterlogged ceiling for over a month, until it deteriorated so much the plaster blew and rained down on Ms Parkhill and her dog in early February. 

Ms Parkhill and her dog were left covered in plaster after part of her waterlogged ceiling fell on them
Ms Parkhill and her dog were left covered in plaster after part of her waterlogged ceiling fell on them (Tindle)

While a Magna surveyor agreed they would fix the ceiling, they provided no date, and did not make any attempt to fix it before it partially fell down. All the while the crumbling plaster ceiling left the family unable to eat in the dining room and retreating to the lounge for breakfast lunch and dinner. 

An out of hours plumber who attended to the flood reported the leak had been caused by a faulty fixture, not anything that Ms Parkhill or her family had done. But Magna have refused to fix much of the damage, leaving Ms Parkhill and her family with waterlogged floors, warped doors, and a damp house.

The humid home is now aggravating a long-term damp problem in the property, which has left 8-year-old Isla off sick from school, and 28-year-old Ashley sleeping downstairs with his young daughter when she comes to visit. 

The family have been forced to retreat to the living room to escape damp and crumbling plaster
The family have been forced to retreat to the living room to escape damp and crumbling plaster (Tindle )

Magna provided the family with a dehumidifier, but it has done little to tackle the thick black mould growing around the windows and walls of the property - which stubbornly returns despite being regularly cleaned. In an attempt to air the house the wet room window is left open, but as a result ivy is now invading the property and has to be cut back from the interior walls. 

Ms Parkhill said there was no hope of winning the fight against the mould when water was coming up from beneath the floorboards and said the situation had left her crying so badly she was unable to speak. She added that a Magna housing officer was ‘shocked’ her family had not been offered alternative accommodation following the flood. 

Magna said it had now apologised to Ms Parkhill for failing to inspect the water damage sooner. In a statement they said: “We are really sorry that Ms Parkhill has outstanding repairs in her home that have taken longer than we would normally expect.

“Ms Parkhill contacted our out of hours team in late December to report a leak from a faulty tap, which we responded to the following day. We were able to ensure the lights were made safe, used a wet vac to clean the affected area, and provided a dehumidifier.

“However, it wasn’t until after Ms Parkhill contacted us again on 18 January that we visited the very next day to inspect the water damage. This should have happened sooner, and we have apologised to Ms Parkhill that it didn’t.” 

“We have arranged with Ms Parkhill to discuss with her any issues she has currently with damp and mould and any other support her and her family may need.”