Family of 8 living in 'arctic conditions' with no heating or hot water in rented house in Milton Keynes

A single mum and her seven young children are living in Arctic conditions after being without heating or hot water for three weeks in her rented home.

Polly Goulding has now been forced to spend her benefit money on booking a hotel for a couple of days – just so she can get her brood clean and warm.

She has one-year-old twins and her other children are three, five, eight, nine and 16. Two of them have autism and other have asthma, she says.

"I can’t tell you how freezing it is in this house. I’ve spent a fortune of fan heaters, which are costing me £20 a day to run, and warm quilts and clothes. But we are all shivering all of the time.

"I’m having to boil a kettle to give the children a strip wash… I can’t believe we’ve been left to live like this.

"We’ve all been ill because of it. My older son with autism refuses to go to school because he feels dirty and my two-year-old is so cold that he won’t come out of his cot.

"I used my benefit money to pay for us all to go to a local hotel this weekend so we can have hot showers and feel warm and clean again. It’s cost me a fortune.”

Today, following questions from the Citizen, the boss of the private home rental company has promised a full investigation into what has gone wrong, saying he is “deeply concerned” to hear about the situation.

Polly, 39, was moved to MK from London by Wandsworth Council. While MK City Council looks for a suitable property for the super-sized family, they were placed in temporary accommodation through rental agency County Rents, which works with local authorities and landlords to provide housing.

For the past six months, the Gouldings have been living in a four bed house on Furzton.

The boiler broke down three weeks ago and Polly says she reported it immediately. Her social worker, from MK Council, has also tried to help by contacting County Rents.

"My social worker in Milton Keynes has been brilliant. I can’t praise her enough. But County Rents are a nightmare. They ignore my calls or transfer to an answerphone,” said Polly.

"I’ve been begging them to come out and fix the boiler. No-one can expect a family with seven kids to live with no heating and hot water at the coldest time of year.”

County Rents’ website states it provides “high standards” of housing accommodation, with 1,000 properties on its books across London, MK, Northampton, Hertfordshire, Coventry, Daventry, Luton, Bedford, Slough, St Albans and Bracknell.

The company’s director of operations, James Campbell, told the Citizen tonight: “I am deeply concerned to learn of the situation... I am personally going to lead a thorough internal investigation.

“Should there be any shortcomings in our usual high standards we will fully implement any changes from our learnings.

“We are committed to ensure that Ms Goulding is fully compensated for any costs incurred and satisfied that the issue should be resolved tomorrow by the allocated contractor.

“I shall be directly in contact with Ms Goulding to ensure full satisfaction for her and her family."