Pensioner furious after husband forced to live in damp 'Auchinleck house of horror' while battling cancer

Agnes Parker, 76, insists the Auchinleck home was a 'nightmare to live in' after claiming many life-threatening repairs were ‘ignored’ by letting agent ‘Rent Locally’.

Now the determiend couple are believed to be the first tenants in the UK to win a tribunal against a letting agent - after being forced to live in there for over a year.

The pair were terrorised by live wires sticking out of the walls, massive patches of black mold, flooding, and a rogue gas fire.

Agnes is also convinced the mold ridden house hindered her husbands recovery from a stroke and cancer.

Barry Parker’s cancer which grew from 3cm to 23cm in just a couple of months after being exposed to the mold.

The 71-year-old also suffered a serious stroke from stress which left Agnes devastated as he was forced with try and recover in the ‘toxic atmosphere’.

Agnes said: “When we first saw the place we were given a quick five minute tour to see the entire house.

“After we moved in we told the letting agent that we were not happy with the living room as they wall paper was all bubbled.

“Then the wallpaper started to fall off in my hand and I saw the black mold underneath it which made the wall soaking wet.

“We then started to examine the rest of the house more closely and noticed the mold everywhere.

“I tried cleaning it up but it gave me big welts and rashes, around 20 days later they sent someone out to sort it but it came right back with a vengeance.”

Agnes then begged her landlord to solve the issue for good, but was forced to live with the mould for another year and a half.

It wasn’t just mould the couple say made the house unbearable as they also complained about plumbing, flooding, and electrical faults that they say the letting agent did not care for properly.

Agnes added: “The garage roof would leak like a sieve which caused a lot of flooding and ruined our furniture.

“It ruined my husbands collectable items which were specialised collectable aeroplanes.

“The boxes were soaking which meant they lost all value and that had been worth a lot of money.

“When I got a new central heating system we discovered to big live wires sticking out of the wall and asked for them to be dealt with right away, but it took almost a year before someone sorted it for us.

“The shower had issues and at one point our toilet wouldn’t flush for a fortnight.

“Two big radiators where never attached to the wall they just sat on two wooden pieces but did not get attached.

“The gas fire even turned on by itself at one point which terrified me that could have killed us.”

“There were also issues with the windows because they wouldn’t open more than six inches, how could we get out if there was a fire.”

They moved in the summer of 2016 and insist they made multiple complaints to the letting agent and tired to contact the landlord but were ignored.

It wasn’t until early 2018 that the environmental agency declared the property below tolerable standards and they had to vacate the house.

Agnes said: “After we were told we couldn’t live there anymore the agent said they would find us somewhere else to stay but that never happened it was all down to me.

“I had to find us somewhere that would let four cats and two dogs stay and have a massive garden for all out plants in less than a month.

“The agent even suggested to us that we put our pets down or into kennels which I would never have done.

“My family is all working so it was really down to me to find us something which I eventually managed to do but it put me through a lot of stress I felt like a demented frog.

They were awarded damages for Rent Locally’s failure to comply with the letting Agent Code of Conduct paragraphs 24 and 85.

Now they want to spread awareness and help other renters who feel let down by the system.

Agnes said: “We were just left feeling homeless while battling the agent to fix these urgent repairs, it was a total nightmare.

“We took it further because even though we aren’t in the house anymore, we don’t want any other renters to go through what we did.”

The Cumnock Chronicle reached out to Rent Locally for a comment.