Couple return to flood-hit Morpeth home two years on
- Published
The Collingwood Terrace property is listed
Two years since they were forced out by floods, a couple have finally been able to return to their Northumberland home.
Ian and Kit Johnson have been living in temporary accommodation since their home in Collingwood Terrace, Morpeth, was badly damaged in September 2008.
The building was listed, which meant consent had to be granted from conservation officers.
Specialist techniques and materials, such as horsehair plaster, also had to be used in the repairs.
Mr Johnson, a Castle Morpeth Housing tenant, said: "There was a major problem with the listing.
"First there was a problem in gaining consent for work to be carried out at the property.
"There was the drying it out, before they could start reinstating the horsehair plaster which takes a long time."
Tina Drury, from Castle Morpeth Housing, said: "It was far longer than we'd have liked the Johnsons to have been out of their home.
"But the very fact that it's a listed building, and we had to follow the conservation officers recommendations, meant that it took longer than it would do in a normal traditionally constructed building."