THE MOTHER of a young toddler has admitted her ‘nightmare’ 17-month stay at her Malvern property almost pushed her to become homeless.
Claire Adams moved to Elgar Avenue in January last year, hoping for a fresh start with her son Charlie, who was four months old at the time.
But they were quickly facing a host of problems, which the 25-year-old said included finding a bread knife sticking out of the kitchen radiator when they first arrived.
She has also had to deal with the front door failing to shut or lock properly at the house, owned by Fortis Living, and holes in the kitchen floor which Ms Adams claimed had led to a recent influx of ants.
“Charlie was crawling at the time we moved in and there was a blade sticking out of the kitchen radiator,” she told The Observer. “It was disgusting.
“Charlie could have lost a finger – or worse – and may well have done if I had not noticed it.
“It has all been a complete nightmare and I was prepared to make myself homeless as I felt that was the only option.
“There has been no point where I have thought ‘I am happy here’. This place is not my home, it is just a bad omen – not just for me but it is a bad starting life for my son.
“I want to move out and would like my own little garden I can look after, not one that gets beer cans thrown in it.”
Ms Adams previously lived in Powick for 12 months but said she was moved out of the house as it was knocked down as part of a proposed development in the village, so was re-located to Malvern.
A Fortis Living spokeswoman added: “We are aware of a couple of issues outstanding with the address, one is the replacement of the front door to the property which is due to be surveyed and which has been chased up with the contractor for a completion date.
“There is also an inspection which was logged last week to inspect holes in the property, with the inspection due today (July 1).
“There have been previous maintenance and repairs carried out at this property but we are not aware of any issues with any of these.”
She added a knife was removed from a radiator in February last year but there was ‘no record of any complaints or issues’.
