A man has been forced to shower at his gym and wash dishes in his bath for over two years because of the rotten condition of his flat.
Greg Howard began renting a flat in Wallasey at the end of 2017 and for the first year and a half said everything was ‘fine’.
In 2019 Greg started to experience water pouring through his kitchen ceiling from the flat above, which quickly led to him losing all electrical access in his kitchen.
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Greg, 46, told the ECHO : “In March 2019, I started having water cascading through from the upstairs flat into my flat and running down the walls.
"It would trip the electrics in my kitchen [...] until the electric stopped working completely."
Greg, who lives on Manor Road, explained many of the issues were caused when the upstairs neighbour would “forget to turn the taps off”, causing the sink to overflow and leak through to Greg’s flat below.
The Wirral man bought his neighbour a bowl for his sink in a bid to combat the issue, however this did not put a stop to the leaking and by 2020 Greg said his home had become 'uninhabitable'.
At the start of 2020, Greg resorted to using his gym's shower facilities as not only had the leaking caused damage to his boiler - leaving him with no hot water - but he also had to use his bathroom as a kitchen space and wash dishes in the bath.
He claims it has been around 900 days since he last had hot water in the property.
Greg said: "My whole kitchen was damp and soaked all the time and all the electrics had gone. I had no kitchen."
With no working appliances Greg tried cooking on a George Foreman grill outside, however this became inconvenient and he resorted to a diet of takeaways and chocolate.
Greg added: “It became very much like Cast Away.
"What's worse is my daughter is only allowed to stay for one night because there is just nowhere for her to shower.
"I did start boiling the kettle when I could and I'd sit in the bath with a washing bowl, but then I just started to use my gym."
The severity of the damage revealed itself during renovation of his kitchen, where Greg discovered some of his walls and ceilings had begun to "severely rot".
In a desperate bid to get the issue resolved, Greg contacted his neighbour, their landlord and the neighbouring flat's estate agent. But despite several meetings and correspondence he said he has had no success.
Greg said as a result of the ongoing leaking, he will require his ceiling to be partially replaced due to "rotten black mould", as well as a "whole section of the wall in the kitchen" replaced in order to repair the electrics in the room.
However he believes these repairs cannot be made until his upstairs neighbour's floor is sorted as "that's where the water is coming from".
He said: "Right now the floor is so rotten it is like soil."
This was further highlighted by Greg's landlord, Stephanie Briggs, who said she has been aware of the issues for 'a couple of years now'.
She told the ECHO: "I appreciate that under normal circumstances I would be responsible for repairs. However as the leaks continue due to repairs not being done in the flat above, despite them having been informed on numerous occasions.
"Also due to the tenant upstairs being irresponsible with his use of the sink, i.e allowing it to overflow regularly, I see little point in fixing the flat until the flat above and tenant can assure me that it's not going to continue.
"If I had sorted repairs each time there has been a problem then there would be a permanent contractor at the flat. I have been discussing the situation with the estate agent over the matter and he's on a few occasions and he's agreed to get the matter sorted but as yet the flat is still the same."
The issue has started to take its toll on Greg's mental health as he said he is starting to suffer from side effects related to his diagnosed PTSD which he takes "serious medication" for.
He said: “This situation is starting to break through the calm of the medication.
“I’m also asthmatic so living in a rotten place is really damaging. I just want this to be sorted."
The neighbour’s landlady told the ECHO whenever she has been informed of any problems regarding the flat she is responsible for, she has "immediately contacted" the estate agents.
Stephanie said the neighbour's estate agents has recently been in contact to arrange to discuss Greg's situation.
