A COUPLE who waited for weeks to secure their housing exchange were horrified when it was finally completed, saying "you wouldn't let a tramp live in there."

William Sharratt and Tara Parsons say their new house, in Elgar Avenue, is "dangerous" as the toilet is leaking severely, leading to the kitchen ceiling bowing and on the verge of collapse.

The couple, along with their two children, are currently staying with Miss Parson's grandmother until work is completed on their new property, after waiting 13 weeks on the exchange list to move from their former Challenger Close home.

Mr Sharratt, 27, said: "I just want to move into my new house, you wouldn't let a tramp live here at the moment. The pictures don't do this justice.

"It looks like the ceiling is about to come down.

"It's so frustrating. We were looking forward to starting our new life here, but we can't because of this.

Miss Parsons, 25, says the couple fear for their two children's' safety after receiving the keys for their new on Monday, September 15.

"We have two young boys, a two year-old and a three year-old. It's not safe for them to be here with the bathroom leaking. Who knows what illnesses they could pick up from the dirty water, on top of that it stinks here. I can't believe the associations and the person we exchanged with didn't make us aware of this.

"We were told it needed a touch-up, but it needs a lot more. We weren't aware of the extent of the damage here when we agreed to the exchange.

"When we first got the keys, we lifted up the carpets as they were dirty, and saw the floorboards in the bathroom were rotten.

"We searched more, leading to the toilet, and the floorboards were totally rotten and had holes in them.

"I just want this sorted now. It's gone on far too long and it's becoming a desperate situation, and a real stress to us all.

"We are a family and want to live in our family home."

After the Gazette contacted them, Fortis stated work was already due to start on the house.

A spokeswoman for Fortis Living said: “Fortis Living has inspected the property in Elgar Avenue and has organised a plasterer, carpenter and plumber to inspect and start work on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

"Mr. Sharratt and Miss Parsons viewed the property before accepting it under the mutual exchange scheme and were advised there was some work to be done by one of our maintenance inspectors.

"It is also a condition of the mutual exchange scheme that the property be taken in the condition it is left in which the couple agreed to when signing the lease.”