‘We pawned our engagement ring so we didn’t have to go home.’

David Harvey is a tough-looking dad from Oldham.

But the minute he receives a phone call at a cafe on Shaw high street – he breaks down.

Tears gather in his eyes as he passes on the message to his girlfriend Lianne, his stepson Cody and his two-year-old Elliot.

“They’re throwing us out,” he said.

And almost in the same breath: “I can’t go back there.”

The family has been living in temporary accommodation at a hotel for two weeks.

The stay, organised by the council, has been a short respite from their living conditions at home, at a privately rented two-bedroom house in Shaw.

But because the landlord refused to foot the bill for the hotel, the family will now have no choice but to return.

Damp permeates every room in the house.

The radiators leak. And the heating struggles to bring the home above outdoor temperatures – not least because of an uncovered hole that connects David’s bedroom directly to the outside world.

There are also cracks in the ceiling, causing the couple to worry about the roof ‘caving in’ on top of them – though Oldham Council and their landlord claim the property is ‘safe’. ,

But despite lodging complaints with the landlord for more than two years, the Oldham dad claims they’ve seen ‘very little’ action.

“Since I’ve been out of the house, I’ve stopped having coughing fits,” Lianne, who is 24-weeks pregnant with her first daughter, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“Usually I’m coughing so much I make myself sick.

"There’s black mould all across the walls in our bedroom, so I think it’s that – breathing in all the horrible stuff in the air.

“I’m not having another baby in that,” she said with a determined shake of her head.

“I’m constantly worried. When I was pregnant with Elliot it was so horrible, I was coughing so much I caused myself a hernia.

"I’ve got scars where they took it out. I can’t do that again, it hurt like hell.”

David added, glumly: “We can’t go back. What if we lose her- [the baby]?”

David first moved into the house in 2017.

He’s being trying to sort the state of the house ever since he fell in love with Lianne.

They first met when she visited the shop where he was volunteering for his mental health.

“The house had just become worse and worse,” David said.

“I had no kitchen. There was no working heating or anything like that.

"There was mould and damp.

"The boiler leaked and made funny noises all the time like it was going to explode, or like a motorbike going off.

“When I met Lianne, I started asking the landlord to do the work – but he refused.”

David gradually started pouring his own savings into renovations, including buying and fitting his own kitchen for £500.

He estimates he’s spent around £7,000 in total to replace mouldy furniture, clothes, wallpaper and carpets and fix up various problems around the house.

But now the damp and mould has once again washed through the wallpaper, contaminating furniture – including a brand new pram for his first son, Elliot.

“I don’t know what to do anymore,” David said.

“I’m literally begging for a Section 21 (a no-fault eviction). But the landlord keeps refusing.”

Lianne, who has severe epilepsy, and David, whose mental health struggles make it difficult for him to work, can’t afford to move to a new home, especially with rents in Oldham skyrocketing in recent years.

They currently pay £600 for the small two-bed home.

But if they leave the house willingly they are classed as ‘voluntarily homeless’, making them ineligible for social housing.

The situation has left David feeling ‘stuck’.

He says he has considered taking his own life due to the situation.

“I don’t know a way out”, he said.

“At the end of the day, I’m just trying to protect my family.

"If I end up taking my life, maybe they’ll realise how bad the situation is, and they won’t make them go back.

“Because how can I protect my family in that house, when I’m scared the roof is going to cave in?”

David has a PTSD diagnosis – but a recent letter from an NHS auxiliary group determined it would ‘not be suitable’ to deliver treatment because of the housing issue.

‘Once you are in a more stable housing situation, you are always welcome to refer to our services in the future’, the letter read.

“I’m sat here begging for help,” he said.

The conditions have affected the kids too.

The pair feel they can’t leave their two-year-old out of sight due to all the dangers in the house – which include an old gas fireplace covered by a piece of metal sheeting with a hole in it and a hole in the kids’ bedroom ceiling which has been wallpapered over.

“It’s unsafe. It’s unsuitable,” David said.

“It’s disgusting how [the landlord] is letting people live.”

The LDRS contacted the landlord for comment.

The family has been to the council for support, but were not considered ‘homeless’ under their definition.

Councillor Elaine Taylor, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Decent Homes, said: “We sympathise with any family who find themselves in a difficult housing situation. In this case, council staff have provided the family with advice and support, which included organising a temporary hotel stay so they could get respite from the situation.

“Environmental Health staff have since visited their privately-rented property.

"Although undecorated, under national housing guidelines the property is deemed safe for them to live in and the family have been informed by letter of the reasons why.

“Our Housing Options team will continue to provide assistance if needed, as we would to any resident.

"This can include providing advice relating to alternative housing options, signposting and referrals into other support agencies and undertaking homelessness assessments.”

With all their furniture in storage to save it from the mould, the call that the family would need to vacate the hotel immediately was a devastating blow.

Later on the same day, David and Lianne pawned their engagement rings so they could extend their stay.

“We just want the kids to be safe for one more night,” David texted the LDRS.

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