Torus Homes tenants fear for their health over housing repairs

Mavis Gannon said she had ended up in hospital twice after falling in the property

Some tenants living on the same street say their health is at risk because their housing association is failing to make urgent repairs and improvements.

Torus Homes has come under fire from residents living on Queens Avenue in Warrington, Cheshire.

One resident said she needed two knee replacements after falling in her home.

But Torus said it was "confident that all requests for home repairs or improvements had been completed or were under way".

Tenant Mavis Gannon, 80, who has mobility issues, said she had asked Torus, who is responsible for 40,000 homes in the North West, for an accessible bathroom but she had not been provided with one.

She said she had fallen over a shower step several times and ended up in hospital twice, needing two knee replacements.

"I'm hoping that what I'm going to get is a wet room all on the same level because when I get on the floor, there's no chance of me getting up," she said.

She added that damp and black mould in her bathroom had also given her a chesty cough.

She has raised concerns over black mould in the bathroom of her home

Dave Freeman, who cares for his wife Wendy who has limited mobility, said he had to wash her at the sink for the past two years as the shower was inadequate.

He said they felt so helpless and degraded that they even considered taking their own lives.

"I've never been like that before. I'm getting there quietly but I get so emotional, it's unreal," said Mr Freeman.

"It's only because I couldn't get anything done for Wendy."

He said a wet room had been installed after two years of raising concerns.

Further along the street are Mark and Marie Worral, who have lived in the home for two years.

Mr Worral, who has a chronic lung condition, said he and his wife Marie asked Torus to improve their loft insulation not long after moving in.

He said he believed the cold and damp had caused up to eight chest infections since moving there and he had had pneumonia.

Fred Eckersley also lives in Torus accommodation on Queens Avenue.

Mr Eckersley has raised concerns over the lack of handrail at his property

He said he was unable to leave via the back door of his house as a gate had been fitted without a handrail.

He said he feared for his safety if there was a fire as he could not climb up the three steps to reach it.

Torus said: "Many home adaptations such as wet rooms, handrails and ramps can only be undertaken following an occupational therapist's assessment and recommendation that these works will support tenants to remain independent at home."

Concerns have also been raised by Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols over the company's plans to build over 5,500 homes in the next five years.

The Labour MP said: "There have been concerns raised by residents that if they don't keep to an adequate standard some of the stock they've already got, that adding more stock on top of that is going to stretch that capacity further."

Torus said its first priority was to ensure every home was "safe, comfortable and well maintained" and over the next year they would be investing around £127m into existing housing stock.

"We have been in regular contact with the group of residents at Queens Avenue for several months and continue to provide ongoing support and guidance on a tenancy-by-tenancy basis," the firm said.

A spokesperson for the company added that there had been no recent reports of mould in Ms Gannon's home and work on Mr and Mrs Worral's property was due to be completed this month.

"Our staying home officer has provided guidance to the affected tenants, assisting them to make a referral to the local authority for an occupational therapist assessment."