A couple who bought a £290,000 house in Penhill have spoken of their devastation after it started to fall apart within weeks of moving in, despite no problems being flagged up by surveyors before the transaction.

Clare Murtough, 38, described how cracks in the wall had apparently been disguised by doubled layers of wallpaper, visible holes in the roof allowed rain to come in, and joists were rotting in the attic.

Shortly after she and her partner Jose moved into the property with their three young sons, the ceiling collapsed in an upstairs room, filling the room with rubble and dirt.

None of the issues with the property had been highlighted by Countrywide, who carried out the survey when the mortgage was issued.

It has already cost them thousands of pounds to repair, and the roof and many wooden beams still have to be replaced.

Describing their experience after moving in, Claire said: “When we opened the loft we noticed four holes of daylight coming through.

“Then, when we stripped the wallpaper off, there were two-inch cracks in the wall. Everything had just been covered make-up-wise. They had put two layers of wallpaper on one place where there were large cracks.

“All the joists in the loft were rotten, and since then, we’ve had someone to look at the triangle rafters, and they’re all rotten as well.

“The surveyors said, ‘what do you expect? You only got a basic survey.’

“I’d been to the house three or four times, and I’d queried two-inch cracks either side of the bay window, but they said that if it was a problem, they would have flagged it up.”

Countrywide have been approached for comment, but have not responded.

The £300 survey did not flag up any concerns with the building’s structure, but more bad news was still to come.

Clare said: “One night, my husband called and said that the ceiling collapsed – they were just watching a DVD, and the ceiling came down in the other room.”

Fearing that her children could have been in the room when the heavy material of the ceiling came tumbling down, Clare called the surveyors again, but has yet to hear back.

Much of the work on the property has now been completed, but the couple have had pay around £4,000 so far on repairs, with more still to come.

Six weeks after completing the purchase, the young family are still living out of bags, and sleeping on mattresses in the lounge.

At times, the property has been uninhabitable, with Clare and the children having to move to her mother’s house while the ceilings were reinstalled.