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A frustrated Banbury mother has said her family’s health is suffering due to having to wait years for Sanctuary Housing to carry out repair work on her home.

Mother-of-six, Kimberley Allen, moved into her home on Glamis Place two-and-a-half years ago as part of a mutual exchange deal with another Sanctuary Housing resident.

Kimberly, desperate to find a bigger property for her growing family, took the exchange, despite the poor state the property was in, out of fear she would have to seperate her family if not.

However, since moving into the house, Kimberley says there have been further problems, and the housing association Sanctuary has been reluctant to respond to her concerns.

Some of the cracked walls and ceilings and draughty doors that need repairing at Kimberley's home.

She said: “We have cracked ceilings that look like they are about to fall down, unfinished plastering on the wall, draughty doors and windows and a big tree in the garden that is causing subsidence to the property.

“I am just being completely fobbed off; they keep using the fact that it was a mutual exchange as an excuse not to repair the house, but a lot of the issues have arisen since I moved in.

"It’s ridiculous, and nothing I do seems to get their attention; they are just not interested. I have two children suffering with mental health, and another child suffers from asthma, made worse by the draughts in the doorways.”

On January 16, Sanctuary sent Kimberley an email detailing the work that needed doing, which included a full refit of the bathroom, repairs to cracks in walls and ceilings, plastering in the kitchen and repairs to the draughty windows and doors among other works.

However, to date of publication (March 8) none of the work has been completed.

A spokesperson for Sanctuary Housing said: “The tenant moved into this property following a mutual exchange with the previous resident, having viewed it herself prior to agreeing to sign a tenancy.

"While work needed as a direct result of the move was the tenant's responsibility, we are sorry for the delays completing the additional repairs reported and will ensure any further work needed as a result of a new inspection is completed as soon as possible."

'They are just not interested' - Banbury mother frustrated after waiting years for repairs to house