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Housing Association Repair Problems
passatrider
Posts: 838 Forumite
I currently live in a modern 1 bed ground floor HA flat in the South West of England.
In the time that I've lived here I've begin to notice moss and damp appearing outside the kitchen window on the brickwork. I did worry too much at first as I just cleaned it off thinking it was just normal.
Anyhow, earlier this year I was stood outside the front door when it was raining and noticed that the rain water was cascading down the front of the building, rather than down the guttering.
In April I contacted the HA repairs dept and was told a contractor would be out within 7 working days to sort it. The contractor told me that the roof tiles do not come to the end and fall short, thus allowing
water to miss the guttering and cascade down the front of the property instead.
A report was sent back to the HA to explain this but I heard nothing. I contacted them again to ask what was being done about this and was told that it had been passed to the development team to deal with.
A month passed and still I heard nothing despite the brickwork being sodden from all the heavy rain we'd had in the summer. In July we had an estate visit and the manager took pictures and sent them back to the development dept.
I waited another week or so and called the HA again and was put through to the development dept again. I was told that the issue was the builders fault and they were trying to get them to rectify the roof. I was given a direct number to call in case I wanted any updates.
September came and still no joy. I called the direct number they gave me but it was not working - just got cut off each time! So, I called the HA repairs dept again and asked what was going on as this was nearly 5 months. I was told that they were still waiting for a reply from the builder.
October comes and by this time I'd had enough. I made a formal complaint to the HA in writing that I was not happy with the way things had been dealt with and gave them 28 days to rectify things or I would take it to the Housing Ombudsman.
The reply came back on Oct 11th that they were now waiting for a quote for the work to be done and then it will be fixed. I'm assured that this matter was being dealt with.
Here we are 4 weeks on and still no further forward. I emailed the HA last week to ask where we are with it all, but have since had no reply other than to say it had been passed on to the relevant dept yet again!!
I know it's been very long but this is very important that it's done before the damp gets any worse.
What else can I do??
In the time that I've lived here I've begin to notice moss and damp appearing outside the kitchen window on the brickwork. I did worry too much at first as I just cleaned it off thinking it was just normal.
Anyhow, earlier this year I was stood outside the front door when it was raining and noticed that the rain water was cascading down the front of the building, rather than down the guttering.
In April I contacted the HA repairs dept and was told a contractor would be out within 7 working days to sort it. The contractor told me that the roof tiles do not come to the end and fall short, thus allowing
water to miss the guttering and cascade down the front of the property instead.
A report was sent back to the HA to explain this but I heard nothing. I contacted them again to ask what was being done about this and was told that it had been passed to the development team to deal with.
A month passed and still I heard nothing despite the brickwork being sodden from all the heavy rain we'd had in the summer. In July we had an estate visit and the manager took pictures and sent them back to the development dept.
I waited another week or so and called the HA again and was put through to the development dept again. I was told that the issue was the builders fault and they were trying to get them to rectify the roof. I was given a direct number to call in case I wanted any updates.
September came and still no joy. I called the direct number they gave me but it was not working - just got cut off each time! So, I called the HA repairs dept again and asked what was going on as this was nearly 5 months. I was told that they were still waiting for a reply from the builder.
October comes and by this time I'd had enough. I made a formal complaint to the HA in writing that I was not happy with the way things had been dealt with and gave them 28 days to rectify things or I would take it to the Housing Ombudsman.
The reply came back on Oct 11th that they were now waiting for a quote for the work to be done and then it will be fixed. I'm assured that this matter was being dealt with.
Here we are 4 weeks on and still no further forward. I emailed the HA last week to ask where we are with it all, but have since had no reply other than to say it had been passed on to the relevant dept yet again!!
I know it's been very long but this is very important that it's done before the damp gets any worse.
What else can I do??
0
Comments
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Councillor or mp.
The choice is yours.0 -
Follow their complaints policy, and if this is exhausted (but not before) contact the Housing Ombudsman0
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Is there any water ingress or internal damp?Declutterbug-in-progress.⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️0
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If there is no damp in the property it may not be a priority repair, worry about it if it gets to that stage - you can contact Environmental Health at the local council at that stage. Not sure the ombudsman is appropriate given there is no effect on your health or possessions.Declutterbug-in-progress.⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️0
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