A woman has been hospitalised after she was forced to wash in a bucket for six months.
The mum, from Birmingham, who asked to remain anonymous, had to seek medical help after she became ill washing in the freezing cold water.
Her landlord had refused to fix her boiler, she claims, with the faulty machine at one point causing her ceiling to collapse, Birmingham Mail reported.
A piece of it missed one of her children by inches when it fell.
Her landlord took her deposit and refused to give it back, leaving her homeless and with nowhere to run, homeless charity Shelter said.
The woman's story was told by the charity as it launches its 'Home Truths' campaign.
It is asking to share their stories of housing issues, from landlords to homelessness.
Musurut Dar, Shelter’s community organiser for Birmingham, said: “The reason we’ve launched the listening campaign is to find out about people’s experiences and views on the housing emergency in Birmingham.
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“So we want to hear from people who are struggling to buy a house or pay the rent, or don’t feel listened to by their landlords.
"Those people living in bad housing with damp, mould and other issues, those who are homeless and stuck in temporary accommodation or sofa surfing and the people forced to sleep rough in our city.
"We heard the story of a mum who ended up in hospital after falling really ill after her landlord refused to repair a boiler.
"For months she was washing in a cold bucket of water, which seriously affected her health.
"On top of this part of the ceiling fell in the property, and barely missed hitting her child. What’s worse, when she moved out the landlord took her deposit.
“These are not one-off stories, we’ve heard very similar stories of damp and mould in rented accommodation, and we’ve also spoken to homeless families living in temporary accommodation that’s miles away from their children’s school.
“All of these stories are symptoms of the housing emergency in our city that really needs to be addressed urgently."
Shelter plans to use the responses to identify the most common issues, which they will then put to West Midlands Combined Authority mayoral candidates.
You can share your housing experiences with Shelter's 'Home Truths' campaign here.
