A PREGNANT teenage mother refused to leave her home just days before Christmas - despite housing chiefs saying it was not safe for occupation.

Abi Fear, 19, lives in a Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd-owned property in Cefn Gwyn, Trawsfynydd, with her two-year-old son Jacob, who suffers with global development delay, which can impede intellectual development.

Despite living in a badly deteriorated house, Abi was adamant that she was staying in her home over Christmas because Jacob has difficulty coping with even small changes and would be deeply uncomfortable moving to temporary accommodation even for a short stay.

Abi, who is 20 weeks pregnant, was told to relocate by Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd on Christmas week, after they ruled her house was not safe for occupation.

The full-time mother has lived in the property for two years and says she has desperately and repeatedly tried to get the housing agency to repair her house to an acceptable standard.

“For two years I’ve had to cope with leaky windows and doors and water coming in through the roof,” Abi told the Cambrian News.

“The rendering at the back of the house has come loose and chunks are flying off in the wind. It’s a health and safety issue which I’m not at all happy about, especially with young children in the house.

“Now the roof is in total disrepair and they wanted me to leave right before Christmas but I couldn’t, not with Jacob.

“We’ve had to change bedrooms because of leaks and he screams for 45 minutes every night before he settles down. He doesn’t like a change of surroundings. Was it too much to ask to have a family Christmas in my family home?”

“The problems are the same across the estate, everyone has problems with mould and damp,” she added.“It’s really awful and it affects the children a lot worse than it does the adults.”The latest storms have exacerbated the problems.“When Storm Desmond swept through I had to evacuate my house,” Abi added.“I walked downstairs and it was literally raining in my hall because of all the water coming in.“Some people came out and found that the water had got into the electrics so I had to leave as it wasn’t safe. It affected the fire alarm so I’ve been without a fire alarm upstairs since then.“I was told to find somewhere else to stay for the night, that was it.”Elizabeth Jones, Abi’s friend who has lived on the estate for nearly four years, has recently started a campaign to get CCG to upgrade the estate to the required standard.“We’ve been promised repairs before now but they either never happen or they’re done badly,” the 24-year-old mother said.“The wind howls through the windows - it’s a high pitch whistling noise which means you can’t sleep.“We just want a safe house to bring our children up in.”A spokesperson for Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd said: “We are aware of the issues at Cefn Gwyn and our service manager has visited tenants to discuss matters.“Property condition surveys initially identified that these homes would require improvements, but not for a few years. However, past and recent storms have severely aff­ected this exposed area of Trawsfynydd and the condition of these properties has deteriorated.“We have now brought forward a programme of major external imp­rovements on these homes to the next financial year.“In the meantime we have workers in Cefn Gwyn making temporary repairs to improve the situation short-term.“Unfortunately due to severe weather conditions we have been unable to work on the roofs, but will review this once the weather improves and are keeping all tenants updated of any progress.”