A RETIRED couple left homeless when fire ripped through a neighbour’s house are still in temporary accommodation six months later.

The couple’s son, Terry Dix, has hit out at the organisation which manages Colchester’s council housing for failing to repair their smoke and water-damaged home.

It was damaged when fire ripped through their neighbours’ house in Defoe Crescent, Colchester. That house is also still uninhabitable.

Mr Dix said his parents, who have asked not to be named in the paper, wanted to get home as quickly as possible.

He added: “As a result of there being no roof on the neighbouring property, there’s been constant water ingress.

“Some repair work has been done inside my parents’ house, but it had to be stopped because it’s just too damp to get anything done.

“I just can’t see how it has taken six months for the home to be made safe.

“I’ve made 20-odd phone calls to the council but it hasn’t been forthcoming at all to my parents.

“The council doesn’t seem to have been very proactive in getting the repairs done.

“The place they’re in at the moment is fine, but they shouldn’t have been there that long.”

Last week, the Gazette revealed Colchester Council paid £6.2million to Inspace Partnerships, which maintains properties managed by Colchester Borough Homes before the company was ditched last year.

Colchester Borough Homes, says the delay in fixing the couple’s home has nothing to do with money, but is because the work is so complex.

Projects team manager Michael Gurton said work was being done “as quickly as possible” and hoped to have it finished by August, nine months after the fire.

He said: “The son of the residents has been in regular contact, and we have kept him fully informed at every step of the way.”

Brothers Mark, Tom and Joe Gatehouse, who rented the house next door, discovered their home on fire when they returned from a shopping trip.

Mr Dix’s parents were placed in temporary accommodation by the council and they are still living there.