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Help needed: leaking roof in a Metropolitan Housing association flat - advice needed
kazza123456_2
Posts: 16 Forumite
Could anyone offer me some advice as to what I can do / what are my rights in this matter?
We part own a flat (50:50) on the ground floor of a housing association building. In June 2012 we noticed a leak to the rear of the property in our living room. As we had a flat roof above us we assumed it was a leak somewhere on the flat roof and reported it. It had also caused damp, staining and damage internally. We reported it and eventually in December 2012 they attempted a repair to the roof above the leak and repainted the internal damage as a good will gesture.
6 months passed and the leak reappeared in June 2013. They sent several contractors around to try different small repairs, waited for rain and then it became apparent that the repairs weren't working. This went on and on and in Jan 2014 i lost my patience and put an official complaint in to Metropolitan Housing Association complaints dept. Once again they tried several smaller jobs but nothing was working. They also changed contractors have way through 2014 so this delayed things further. We informed them that we wanted to move out and sell our share of the flat but could not get a valuation of the property whilst the internal walls were in such a mess. Every time it rains we have water dripping down the wall towards an electrical point. We also have constant damp issues. My wife is pregnant and she is due to give birth at the end of this month.
The situation now:
They have realised that this is a much bigger problem than first thought and have had a survey conducted. As the building is relatively new (around 7 years old) they are trying to claim the cost of the repairs against the NHBC warranty as they believe these issues have been caused by poor building standards. The survey was conducted just before xmas. We have yet to see the report.
We have wanted to move out of the flat since January 2014. My wife is due to give birth at the end of January 2015 and i really am not happy with the damp in the property as i think this is potentially damaging to our health and the health of the baby when it arrives. There will also need to be some internal construction work when they decide what needs to be done. I have been in touch with them on a daily/weekly basis but feel as though i am getting nowhere. I have had the complaint escalated but all they seem to be doing is trying to find out who is to blame (and who needs to pay for the work) rather than actually getting the problem fixed. They are fully aware of our situation but do not seem to care.
Where do i stand from a legal perspective? As our land lord, what duties do they have towards us? Compensation can be sorted later, I'm not too bothered about that at this point. My concern is more about getting the leak sorted so we can get things repaired and move out and also to minimise the effects on my wife and our impending new arrival. We don't have any insurance for the internal building contents. External insurance is paid for by our service charge to metropolitan.
Any help or advice you can provide would be greatly received.
Thank you in advance.
We part own a flat (50:50) on the ground floor of a housing association building. In June 2012 we noticed a leak to the rear of the property in our living room. As we had a flat roof above us we assumed it was a leak somewhere on the flat roof and reported it. It had also caused damp, staining and damage internally. We reported it and eventually in December 2012 they attempted a repair to the roof above the leak and repainted the internal damage as a good will gesture.
6 months passed and the leak reappeared in June 2013. They sent several contractors around to try different small repairs, waited for rain and then it became apparent that the repairs weren't working. This went on and on and in Jan 2014 i lost my patience and put an official complaint in to Metropolitan Housing Association complaints dept. Once again they tried several smaller jobs but nothing was working. They also changed contractors have way through 2014 so this delayed things further. We informed them that we wanted to move out and sell our share of the flat but could not get a valuation of the property whilst the internal walls were in such a mess. Every time it rains we have water dripping down the wall towards an electrical point. We also have constant damp issues. My wife is pregnant and she is due to give birth at the end of this month.
The situation now:
They have realised that this is a much bigger problem than first thought and have had a survey conducted. As the building is relatively new (around 7 years old) they are trying to claim the cost of the repairs against the NHBC warranty as they believe these issues have been caused by poor building standards. The survey was conducted just before xmas. We have yet to see the report.
We have wanted to move out of the flat since January 2014. My wife is due to give birth at the end of January 2015 and i really am not happy with the damp in the property as i think this is potentially damaging to our health and the health of the baby when it arrives. There will also need to be some internal construction work when they decide what needs to be done. I have been in touch with them on a daily/weekly basis but feel as though i am getting nowhere. I have had the complaint escalated but all they seem to be doing is trying to find out who is to blame (and who needs to pay for the work) rather than actually getting the problem fixed. They are fully aware of our situation but do not seem to care.
Where do i stand from a legal perspective? As our land lord, what duties do they have towards us? Compensation can be sorted later, I'm not too bothered about that at this point. My concern is more about getting the leak sorted so we can get things repaired and move out and also to minimise the effects on my wife and our impending new arrival. We don't have any insurance for the internal building contents. External insurance is paid for by our service charge to metropolitan.
Any help or advice you can provide would be greatly received.
Thank you in advance.
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