council house repairs

korky69

hello,
our local council have been doing up all the houses in the area, rewire, new kitchen, new bathroom, central heating, damp proof, roof, windows and doors, the whole works,
and contracted the work out to another building firm.

they started on my dads home mid February, emptied most of the house, left him 1 chair, bed, tv and basic kitchen items, microwave dinners only.

when they started it was obvious he couldn't live during the work, it was a right mess,
he lives on his own and is also disabled so my partner told him to move in our home until it was finished, I'm still decorating 3 weeks after they finished their work!

the other day the man came to read his meters and was shocked when the bills came in, it was for £240 for the gas/electric from Jan 1st to May 17 and he'd only spent the 1st 6 weeks of this period in his house!

we complained to the contractor and they offered to pay £105 of it leaving my dad to pay £135 for 6 weeks energy, and he's 1 of those who sits in the cold and never puts the central heating on.
they wouldn't budge and said take it or leave it.
they argued that they had to use some heating to dry the plaster out,
but what if the house was on a prepay meter or like a few house here, empty and boarded up, which are still being done?

does he have a case to claim more back?

Ivory_Tinkler

Wouldn't it be better to complain to the council as it would be the council who employed the contractors. Give them a ring tomorrow and see what they suggest.

korky69

will try that, but the contractors are in charge of repairs for 1 year, also found out that they removed his tv aerial off the chimney and not replaced it!

korky69

what about your missus too?
whats wrong with what ive put. they used the energy and knackered his aerial?
why should my dad stand the cost of it?

Nilrem

woody01 wrote: »

That's OK....I am sure the taxpayer wouldn't mind paying the electricity and for the aerial.....Oh wait, we have already paid for the kitchen/bathroom/central heating/damp proofing/windows/doors to be replaced.

Give me a minute whilst i take the shirt off my back and he can have that aswell.

Erm if he's in a council house, paying the rent etc the council have a responsibility (like any landlord) to maintain the house, and by the sounds of it they are bringing it up to a more modern standard, something any good property owner (especially landlords) will do if/when they can as it means that the property is easier to rent out/sell (and for a council with possibly thousands of properties the cost per property is generally going to be smaller than for a private individual to do the same work*).
It also means that the house structure is more likely to last well, and the chances of things like a fire due to electrical faults are lower (and they'll normally make any legally required changes at the same time as well)...


If the contractors have done any damage or removed any of the occupiers fittings that they did not have to/were not replacing, they should either be putting them back up, or replacing them with equivalent ones (the same as if you had the builders in privately).
Likewise if the house has been unoccupied by the renter during much of the work, but the bills have gone up due to an increase in energy usage whilst it was unoccupied (easy enough to get a copy of the old bills if need be) then the occupant shouldn't really be liable for them if it was the workmen who used the power.

Having said all that I'm not sure how far the op will get with further refund from the contractors for the electricity used, as the house would normally require some heating anyway, but if they removed the aerial they should have replaced it as a matter of course - I know when our windows were done by a local firm they certainly put the aerial back up after they had finished (in fact they checked if we wanted it back where it had been, or would like it moved FOC as they were going to have to do the work anyway).



*For one thing many council properties are basically the same design/layout inside and out, so they can order in X number of window units of industry standard size Y, or worktops/cupboards at a fairly large discount.
IIRC 4 foot wickes double glazed window cost ~£200 retail, so trade for an equivalent window would be cheaper still, as an example of the differences in cost between say Everest windows and what the council will be doing (not to mention the labour cost for a day of Everest installers or the like doing it privately would probably cover a weeks cost for the councils contractors)

renegade

I had a new kitchen installed by my Council, but they said prior to commencing the work that it was inadvisable to move out of the property whilst the work was in progress. I stayed put and it was a nightmare, no heating sporadic hot water sometimes no water! But in the end it was worth all the hassle and did'nt cost me a penny.

R0bert_Sterling

£105 for a complete rewire, new kitchen, new bathroom, central heating, damp proof, roof, windows and doors, the whole works.

It's an absolute outrage!!!

It's rip offs like that which make me stay in work and pay for my own home improvements.

mancitychick

Whats wrong with you? Jealous of the op's Dad or something?


My Nan is 94 and lives in a council house, she isn't a chav. Neither is my other Nana who is 89 and also lives in a council house. They both paid rent until they retired, one Nan at 70, the other at 60. Then housing benefit kicked in to cover their rent as they could't afford to pay it out of their state pension.



Living in council house doesn't make you a chav.

dmg24

mancitychick wrote: »

Whats wrong with you? Jealous of the op's Dad or something?


My Nan is 94 and lives in a council house, she isn't a chav. Neither is my other Nana who is 89 and also lives in a council house. They both paid rent until they retired, one Nan at 70, the other at 60. Then housing benefit kicked in to cover their rent as they could't afford to pay it out of their state pension.



Living in council house doesn't make you a chav.

To be fair, your post does not really back up the 'fairness' of the system that you imply. Your grandparents live rent free, after having paid a heavily subsidised rent whilst working.

I am not calling anyone a 'chav', but surely you can see why those who have received no subsidies and have to pay for the maintenance of their homes may feel a tad aggrieved.

mazza111

Whether social housing is right or wrong, it's beside the point.

OP I would suggest you contact the council with regards to this. They have contracted this work to a 3rd party, therefore should be chasing this up.

Your father had to leave his home, due to his disabilities and not being able to live with the mess. He left it in the hands of the council or their contractors, they have messed up. Complain directly to them.

nuttyp

just want to point out, i am grateful to live in council house, we have 3 teenagers at home. I work 2 jobs hubby is full time working, eldest son works full time and owns 2 cars - 1 a 57 plate show car paid for with cash and a clasic car. Eldest daughter is full time student and works partime - has her own car. Youngest is still at school. My hubby has a van due to work and i own a sports car.

Were not chavs, work really hard, pay over 3500 a year just in car insurance.

My house is council but i have paid for a conservatry - CASH, i own everything in my house and dont have any finance at all. Proud i am, and i just want reiterate that catergorising people a chavs, scrougers etc just because we live in a council house is wrong.

Many peopl have morgages and when they loose ther jobs or decide not to work - well the state pays the interst on these....... seems some people wear blinkers and need to remove their heads from out their own a***s.

Good luck OP, i would contact the housing repairs officer, they can usually help.