A devastated couple claim they are lucky to be alive after their £290,000 home began falling apart days after they moved in.
Clare Murtough, 38, moved into the property in Swindon, Wiltshire, with her partner Jose and three young sons.
But as they tried to settle in their new home, the downstairs ceiling collapsed while they were watching television in another room.
Clare Murtough, 38, has been plagued by problems since she moved into her £290,000 home
Ms Murtough moved into the property in Swindon, Wiltshire, with her partner Jose and three young sons
Visible holes in the roof have allowed rain to come in and joists are rotting in the attic
Cracks in the wall had been disguised by doubled layers of wallpaper, visible holes in the roof allowed rain to come in and joists were rotting in the attic, despite the house getting the green light from surveyors.
The couple had to tear an upstairs ceiling down and have been forced to sleep on mattresses in the lounge beside bags of clothing some six weeks after moving in.
They say no issues were highlighted by Countrywide, who carried out the survey when the mortgage was issued.
‘My kids would have been killed if they were upstairs when the ceiling fell through,’ Ms Murtough said.
‘I tried to pick up a bit of the rubble and if that had landed on them it would have crushed their skull.’
She says cracks in the wall have been disguised by doubled layers of wallpaper
The couple had to tear an upstairs ceiling down and have been forced to sleep on mattresses in the lounge beside bags of clothing some six weeks after moving in
‘My kids would have been killed if they were upstairs when the ceiling fell through,’ Ms Murtough said
The family say it has already cost them £4,000 to repair, with the roof and a number of wooden beams yet to be replaced
The family say it has already cost them £4,000 to repair, with the roof and a number of wooden beams yet to be replaced.
Ms Murtough added: ‘When we opened the loft we noticed four holes of daylight coming through.
‘Then, when we stripped the wallpaper off, there were two-inch cracks in the wall. Everything had just been covered make-up-wise.
‘They had put two layers of wallpaper on one place where there were large cracks.
Ms Murtough says no issues were highlighted by Countrywide, who carried out the survey when the mortgage was issued
Horrifying photographs show mould on the beams, fixtures and fittings throughout the property
‘All the joists in the loft were rotten, and since then, we’ve had someone to look at the triangle rafters, and they’re all rotten as well.
‘I’d been to the house three or four times, and I’d queried two-inch cracks either side of the bay window, but they said that if it was a problem, they would have flagged it up.’
Countrywide have been approached for comment.