council problems please help

trafalgar_2

if you can ..............................

A friend has been given (at long last after being in a refuge) a council house ,unfortunately only after moving in did she realise all the problems ,the house had been inspected and passed but it shouldn't of been

After much effort and advice gained from MSE boards (thank you for that ) she has finally managed to get most of the repairs done


BUT,the ceilings of the lounge and kitchen had to be replaced and re-plastered..................this is where it all goes wrong

the plasterers did the ceiling and walls in the lounge ,doing a good job but ruining a carpet ,dumping the excess plaster on the front garden and down the drains blocking them,when they returned to do the kitchen she told them she wasn't happy about this and they promptly walked off the job:eek:


she contacted the council who said ,"well we can't get another plasterer in as they will look at the job ,ask why it's half done and when they know you have complained ,they won't do it ,so there is nothing we can do"

she has to put in a claim foir the carpet to be cleaned but unlikely she will get it as no-one will accept responsibility


she is left now with a kitchen ceiling that is in a very poor state and walls that need plastering



has anyone got any advice please on where to go from here

she has tried CA and they say go back to the council but the council won't listen


any help very much appreciated

seek_2

maybe get a job or a better paided job and pay for it to be done.

vicki98_2

has your friend contacted the council inspector directly .. if not that may be worth a try. we had plasterers in here when we moved in and they tried to scrimp on doing the job properly. I rung the council but they weren't much help so I got hold of the inspectors number and rung direct. He got the plasterers back out to us straight away.
In my experience of council housing, any work men employed by the council have to have their work inspected before they get paid, so it may be worth trying to get in touch with the inspector as soon as poss.

lynzpower

NO NO NO

Get her to get enviromental health to come over and check the place is fit for habitation

trafalgar_2

vicki98 wrote:

has your friend contacted the council inspector directly .. if not that may be worth a try. we had plasterers in here when we moved in and they tried to scrimp on doing the job properly. I rung the council but they weren't much help so I got hold of the inspectors number and rung direct. He got the plasterers back out to us straight away.
In my experience of council housing, any work men employed by the council have to have their work inspected before they get paid, so it may be worth trying to get in touch with the inspector as soon as poss.

It was the inspector himself who said he won't get another plasterer in to do the job ,they did a good job on the plastering so that's not the problem,just that they didn't like her saying they left a mess and blocked the drains(which the inspector saw)

trafalgar_2

lynzpower wrote:

NO NO NO

Get her to get enviromental health to come over and check the place is fit for habitation

thank you ,I've passed this on and she is ringing them now

Fran

She should ask the council what their complaints procedure is and follow it through. If this does not result in the problem being sorted out she should complain to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman can't enforce the council to sort it out properly but councils don't like their cases to have gone through them and it's time consuming for them. It "motivates" the council to get it sorted out.

lynzpower

Also if they are putting plaster down the drain, a quick phone to the enviroment agency should also reap rewards

trafalgar_2

Thank you everyone ,this is why I love this place.......................she contacted environmental health who told her to ring the council back and tell them she had contacted them and to ask about their full complaints procedure


she did so and within minutes of putting the phone down the boss of the housing inspectors :eek: rang her and has promised to come out today/tomorrow at the latest to note all the problems and arrange a new plasterer to come asap,and he will even arrange to get the drains unblocked to save her having to go to another department


my god do they shift when your armed with the right knowledge/department names to drop


thanks all and I will let you know if they actually turn up.........................sounds like a result to me :T :T :T :T

lynzpower

yet again another result from the MSE community

trafalgar_2

Update...............

The top inspector DID turn up Friday ,had a good look,apologised for the mess the plasterers had left and for the other inspector that had said no more work will be done ............................and has promised to get new plasterers to come in and finish the job next week as early as he can arrange it

He will also be contactable while they are there and any problems she has to ring him and he will come and sort it out



result:T