A disabled man awarded a £30,000 grant to improve his home claims he has been left "a prisoner" after builders walked out leaving his garden looking like a "bombsite", his wife claims.
Steve Jones, 60, was awarded the disabled facilities grant in December 2019, in order to convert an empty workshop attached to their garage into an annexe for him to live in.
The building work would have allowed Steve, who suffers from stage 4 kidney failure, to have dialysis at home.
He currently has to make a 48-mile round trip to hospital three times a week for the treatment.
But his wife Karen, 56, says the couple were left "gobsmacked" after builders walked off site, leaving their garden "unsafe" to even walk into, and the annexe "unliveable".
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Her husband, meanwhile, is being forced to sleep on a hospital bed in their dining room.
The couple, from Manea, Cambridgeshire, allege the builders had already been paid £20,000 before abandoning the job.
However, a Tennants Trades Ltd spokesman said it was not paid enough money to complete all the works required, and that it had done a considerable amount of work for free.
Grandmother-of-six Karen also claimed that the family also feel let down by Fenland District Council, who, they claim, have given them "no support" since they won the disability grant.
"I just think it's so unfair, the way we have been treated. It feels like we're being discriminated against for Steve's disability," she said.
The couple also have two of their children living at their four-bed home with them, and have full-time care of three of their grandchildren.
"This annexe would have given him his own space where he could shower whenever he wanted in the planned wetroom, and he could have dialysis each evening while watching TV," explained Karen.
The couple have been quoted another £14,000 to complete all the work, but don't have anything left from the grant, which they were awarded in December 2019, said Karen.
Karen said Tennants Trades Ltd quoted £26,400 and with the grant paid in three stages, they handed over and initial £10,000 before work began on August 8 last year.
Plasterboards and wood for the skirting were ordered by the firm before the council's private sector housing manager got in touch and said it wanted their second-stage payment, she claims.
"So we gave them another 10k - but we were getting a bit agitated about where the money was going, as we went out to check on things and they hadn't even started anything yet," Karen claimed.
All of a sudden, one day, all the tools were being packed away into a van and she was told unless they got another £4,000 the builders would leave, Karen claimed.
She said: "We were gobsmacked. We couldn't have given him any more money at that time, as the grant payments take two weeks to process."
Steve then got in touch with the council and was offered a loan against the mortgage on the house, which amounted to around £8,000.
The couple have since found another building company to complete the work, but don't have any money to pay them.
Silas Tennant, of Tennants Trades Ltd., said: "I worked for the family for several weeks for free until I ran out of money and had to stop working there.
"I have been damaged by that family and have ended up with serious anxiety and stress - and I don't want to talk about it anymore."
A council spokesperson said it would not be appropriate to comment on any matter relating to the awarding of a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), due to UK GDPR legislation.
However, they said home changes paid for by DFGs can be managed by the occupants themselves or through the authority's Care & Repair Agency.
In the former case, applicants require two written estimates from reputable builders or installation companies before the grant is issued, but the occupants themselves must determine if those selected are "capable".
"Grants can only be paid on provision of an acceptable invoice, demand or receipt of payment for the works to ensure the Council can demonstrate that appropriate steps have been taken to protect taxpayers’ money," they added.
