Click here<\/a> for the latest on Greater Manchester’s politics in our newsletter<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cThere are mushrooms growing out of my floor because stagnant, smelly water from the dishwasher is backing up through the pipes and seeping into my floor. It started in September last year, and every single month since then I\u2019ve complained to Onward.<\/p>\n
![\"Mushrooms](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0_Jennifer-Ryder-Lower-Broughton.jpg\")
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Mushrooms growing out of Jennifer’s floor. (Image: Copyright Unknown)<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t use my kitchen because I\u2019m scared it\u2019s a biohazard, but I can\u2019t afford to buy takeout every day. For the last few days I\u2019ve literally just had packets of crisps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Ryder has agoraphobia, which means she spends most of her time in the flat that\u2019s in such a state of disrepair, it leaves her feeling \u2018worthless\u2019 and having panic attacks in her front room. She also suffers from an ongoing sinus infection. She\u2019s had enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just 10 months, it\u2019s 10 years,\u201d she said. \u201cThis flat was supposed to be high-end when I moved in, and it\u2019s been left to deteriorate because issues aren\u2019t dealt with on time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lower Broughton resident, who once worked for Onward Homes, showed deep stains on her walls, which were the result of a hole in her ceiling that took the housing association two years to repair. Since the issue with her kitchen began, Ms Ryder has refused to pay her rent.<\/p>\n
The ex-Onward employee said she had become \u2018scared to leave her house\u2019 and developed agoraphobia following a data breach, which led to people approaching her with their own issues.<\/p>\n
![\"Jennifer](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0_JRP_MEN_090726_housing_006JPG.jpg\")
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Jennifer Ryder in front of the water-damaged wall in her home. (Image: Jason Roberts \/Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n
Onward acknowledged what it described as \u2018low level data breach\u2019 and has apologised.<\/p>\n
Ms Ryder, who said she felt she had to give up her job, said: \u201cSometimes it feels very difficult to go on.\u201d<\/p>\n
On one occasion, Ms Ryder said Onward Homes arranged to send tradespeople to sort her kitchen.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI wasn\u2019t aware they had arranged anyone to come. Because I have agrophobia and PTSD, I find it very distressing when someone comes over unannounced. So when the workmen arrived, I just panicked. I couldn\u2019t let them in. I called them up to apologise afterwards, but then I was told they would no longer deal with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Onward said: \u201cWe are committed to resolving these issues and are continuing to work with Ms Ryder to agree a programme of works that will enable us to complete the necessary repairs to her home. In order to minimise any disruption to Ms Ryder, we have made several offers for her to stay in a serviced apartment on a temporary basis that have so far been declined.<\/p>\n
![\"Delayed](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0_JRP_MEN_090726_housing_001JPG.jpg\")
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Delayed repairs to Jennifer’s homes have left her feeling ‘worthless’. (Image: Jason Roberts \/Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Ms Ryder\u2019s request, we have developed a programme that will allow her to stay at home for the entire duration of the works. In recognition of the inconvenience caused, we have also offered additional support for any loss of amenity and further assistance from our Money Advice Team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have made multiple attempts to carry out these repairs. Works were due to begin on 7th July, however we were not provided with access to allow this to happen. We are absolutely committed to resolving these issues and have advised Ms Ryder that we are available to start the works at short notice. We hope that a date can be agreed to bring these matters to a satisfactory conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘I feel like I’m living in a nightmare’ Jennifer Ryder at her home(Image: Jason Roberts \/Manchester Evening News)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1111595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,6333,72868,2465,285,1290,16,15],"class_list":["post-1111594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manchester","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-housing","tag-lower-broughton","tag-manchester","tag-politics","tag-salford","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116984121364719105","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1111594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1111595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1111594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1111594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1111594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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