Edinburgh single mum would 'rather be homeless' than stay in 'nightmare' council flat after 'shoddy repairs'
An Edinburgh single mum has said she would rather be homeless than stay in her council flat after “shoddy repairs” made her life “hell”.
As previously reported in the Evening News in December, single full-time mother Lauren Currie, 29, was frustrated after waiting since February last year for the council to refurbish the kitchen and bathroom in her “falling apart” Drylaw flat, that she shares with her 11-year-old son.
She was left further upset after the work was carried out last month, with the council contractors focusing on other parts of the house and not dealing with the issues she raised.
She was also furious at the contractors for leaving mess behind and for what she called “shoddy” and “unfinished work”, including a badly fitted shower curtain rail which fell into the bath, with a large nail sticking out.
Now Lauren, who suffers from health conditions including ADHD, Tourette syndrome, borderline personality disorder and anxiety, has revealed that she would rather declare herself homeless than live there any longer with her son, who was scolded after she said council workers mixed up the hot and cold taps on the bath.
She said: “Things have got worse. The place is falling apart. The hot tap cover was on the cold tap and vice versa, which led to my son burning himself with scolding hot water.
“The council has asked me to move while they carry out repairs but I want to be moved permanently, the place is a death trap after the shoddy repairs, it’s been hell.
“The shower curtain rail fell into the bath as it hadn’t been screwed into a wooden panel as it should have been. The joint had a seven inch nail sticking out, if my child or I had been in the bath when that happened it could have been fatal.
“I can’t live here any longer, I need to make myself homeless as I don’t trust them to come back and do a better job this time after carrying out shoddy repairs last month.
“We waited 10 months for the first lot of repairs and living here is now just a nightmare.
“We had a fully functioning bathroom and kitchen before they came, and they didn’t even deal with the issues I raised - the skirting boards, holes around the lights and mould on the walls - which are all still to be fixed. These were my main concerns.
“I can’t live like that, living in fear that something will fall apart and hurt my son or I. I want to keep my son safe, but this home is not safe.”
A City of Edinburgh Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of the concerns raised by the tenant and are actively working to address and resolve these as soon as possible.”