A GREENOCK dad-of-four who lost his partner and is recovering from a brain haemorrhage says he has now been landed with a ‘house of horrors’.

Desperate Colin Stewart has been battling with Larkfield Housing Association ever since he was handed the keys to a crumbling house in Cambridge Road six weeks ago.

The 44-year-old had hoped the move would help his family rebuild their lives following the tragic death of his partner Laura Cook two years ago.

But it turned into a nightmare after Colin discovered the house is riddled with damp in every room, with areas of dry rot and walls which are clearly crumbling.

Full-time dad Colin, who is still recovering after recently spending a week in hospital with a bleed on the brain, said: “I am devastated by this.

“I am just trying to make a better life for my four children. 

“But I can’t move my children in there to live.

“It is uninhabitable.

“It is hard being a single parent and I moved from a private let nearby because it was saving me £100 a month.

“I ended up in hospital with a bleed on the brain because of all the stress. 

“I can’t believe that the housing association are charging me rent and trying to decide if they need to carry out repairs.

“I would be homeless now if it wasn’t for my mum and dad taking us in.”

Colin says he was stunned when he stripped the walls back to discover the dampness.

He tried to decorate three times but the wallpaper kept falling off and the Gyprock with it.

He was forced to  abandon plans to plaster because he was told that it would simply fall straight back off unless major repairs were carried out.

The wood on the staircase is also rotten, with cracks running along the steps, which are unstable.

Colin says that a Corgi-registered gas engineer refused to fit the cooker because he said the socket on the wall didn’t meet regulations.

Colin was also shocked to find that the doors in the house are not fire safety doors.

Colin lost his partner Laura suddenly two and a half years ago and since then he has been bringing up their four children — Courtney, 16, Ashley, 15, Aiden, 13, and Colin, six — on his own.

Larkfield Housing Association handed him the keys on December 13 but the problems quickly started to mount up.

He said: “I thought this move would help us all, but it has backfired on me.

“When I lived in the private rent if there were any problems my landlord would have it sorted out the next day.

“I never thought a housing association would have left us like this.

“I have paid for removal vans and now storage.

“I have spent the £500 decorating grant and all the paper has fallen off.

“I don’t have that kind of money to sort it.

“This is just a nightmare. 

“They told me they had no idea it was in this condition until the wallpaper came off but if they didn’t know, then how was I supposed to know when I accepted it?

“But they still think it is okay to charge me rent.”

“I don’t know what to do.”

No comment was available from Larkfield Housing Association.