Please someone help me

MeAgainstWorld

hi all ,

i currently live in a housing association house in wales ,
ive been here 18 months and ive been trying to get the housing association to fix things ,
before i moved in i was supposed to have new kitchen worktops because the ones here are bubbled up and cracks with rust , im still waiting ,

in the last 6 months they sent out my housing officer and then a "independant property officer" (found it odd that he was supposed to be independant as he was wearing a coat that had the housing name on !) ,

then they brought contractors out with them for them to look at the things needed doing ,
the attic beams are half on and look like they are about to give out , i had to ring them constantly to get them out , i couldnt believe they told me "its as safe as houses"
yet when i asked for the maintance sheet for the work they intend on doing , it said
"metal pieces added to attic" (why if its "safe" )

there is only a bit of insuation in attic a man from the housing came out in july and told me that he said he would be back the following day , joke!! ) ,

the bathroom when bath or shower the water runs from the ceiling downstairs , when the 2nd lot came out the contractor whispered to the officer "it looks like there was obviously a problem before as there is clearly a bit thats been artexed over" , on the wall by it there are cracks from bottom to top ,


there is HUGE cold damp (which looks like as if water is there but they told me it was damp) , on bedrooom ceiling and landing ,
the storage heaters are useless , (they bought the house very cheap and have not updated it) , when i moved in some other company were running it but now there are new people

in living room there is a fireplace and there used to be a coal fire all they have done is put a thin piece of board over it ,

the wood on the stairs has wood rot (the tiny holes and there are 1000,s of them) , and the some steps wood has come away (on the scheduled maintance it says "Timber wood to make the step look normal !!

as im typing this my hands are frozen its sooo cold ,
im literally drained with the lot of them , when i ask why havent you done anything , they just say "i dont know" ,

it was meant to be carried out all of this work weeks ago but they have kept cancelling it and they cancelled again this week and said it will be 2 weeks again ,

i have severe asthma , i cant cope here and i feel like they just dont care , to me the attic joists are NOT safe im so paranoid

im begging for some help anyone with any info on my rights
i would be so apprecitive
thanks

MeAgainstWorld

i did try to add pictures but it wont let me

sevenhills

MeAgainstWorld wrote: »

there is only a bit of insuation in attic a man from the housing came out in july and told me that he said he would be back the following day , joke!! ) ,

the storage heaters are useless

in living room there is a fireplace and there used to be a coal fire all they have done is put a thin piece of board over it ,

as im typing this my hands are frozen its sooo cold ,

You could see if your house has a Energy Performance Certificate, not all do.

https://www.epcregister.com/

moneyistooshorttomention

I know that Councils are also public sector - but it is a different part of that sector and I wonder if it might be a possibility to get in someone from the Environmental Health department in the Council? - it's hardly "healthy" to have a dicey roof for instance.

Davesnave

MeAgainstWorld wrote: »

hi all ,

i currently live in a housing association house in wales ,
ive been here 18 months and ive been trying to get the housing association to fix things ,
before i moved in i was supposed to have new kitchen worktops because the ones here are bubbled up and cracks with rust , im still waiting , Did you have that in writing? If it was just something someone said, it's hard to hold them to it.

in the last 6 months they sent out my housing officer and then a "independant property officer" (found it odd that he was supposed to be independant as he was wearing a coat that had the housing name on !) ,Well, at least something was being assessed and recorded....

then they brought contractors out with them for them to look at the things needed doing ..... and there was follow-up action.
the attic beams are half on and look like they are about to give out , i had to ring them constantly to get them out , i couldnt believe they told me "its as safe as houses" They are more likely to know that than you are.
yet when i asked for the maintance sheet for the work they intend on doing , it said
"metal pieces added to attic" (why if its "safe" ) So they are going to take some kind of precautionary measures at some point. Good.

there is only a bit of insuation in attic a man from the housing came out in july and told me that he said he would be back the following day , joke!! ) ,You can get your own insulation added by contacting one of the energy companies that provide it free. I did this and I don't qualify for benefits. It was done very well and cost me nothing.

the bathroom when bath or shower the water runs from the ceiling downstairs , when the 2nd lot came out the contractor whispered to the officer "it looks like there was obviously a problem before as there is clearly a bit thats been artexed over" , on the wall by it there are cracks from bottom to top , So water falls out of the ceiling when you use the bath/shower? Where does it go then? Did you demonstrate this when the contractor was there? Water coming out of a ceiling is quite serious and would require immediate action, I'd have thought.
there is HUGE cold damp (which looks like as if water is there but they told me it was damp) , on bedrooom ceiling and landing , So insulation is possibly missing there.
the storage heaters are useless , Do you mean they don't work, or that you don't think they are working properly, or what? Many of us older people have had storage heaters and know they lose heat over the day. That's normal with older ones. (they bought the house very cheap and have not updated it) , when i moved in some other company were running it but now there are new people

in living room there is a fireplace and there used to be a coal fire all they have done is put a thin piece of board over it ,That's what I always had when I lived with redundant fireplaces - what did you expect?

the wood on the stairs has wood rot (the tiny holes and there are 1000,s of them) , and the some steps wood has come away (on the scheduled maintance it says "Timber wood to make the step look normal !!Yes I expect they will just put a covering over these. Replacing a staircase is very expensive and disruptive.

as im typing this my hands are frozen its sooo cold ,
im literally drained with the lot of them , when i ask why havent you done anything , they just say "i dont know" , Thats because you rang up and asked someone who might not have access to the info. If you write and keep a copy of the letter, you will have a better chance of getting a meaningful reply.
it was meant to be carried out all of this work weeks ago but they have kept cancelling it and they cancelled again this week and said it will be 2 weeks again , So they are keeping in touch over the work agreed.
Yes, work can take a long time to be carried-out in HA property. It has to be prioritised. Work can take a long time in private ownership too. I had to wait 4 months for a plasterer recently. In private rented property, getting anything done is often just as hard, or worse.

i have severe asthma , i cant cope here and i feel like they just dont care , to me the attic joists are NOT safe im so paranoid The attic joists are just something you may have to live with for now, unless you pay for your own inspection by a structural engineer (£300 - £500 approx) and it's proved unsafe.

Severe asthma is something your doctor can advise on in the light of a report from the local council's environmental health officer

im begging for some help anyone with any info on my rights
i would be so apprecitive
thanks

There are no dates or timescales here. Keep records so you know when people visited and remember exactly what was said.

Your post is such a long list, the more important things are being buried in trivial detail. It sounds as if your house is damp and poorly ventilated, which can be a problem with older property. Getting one room warm and keeping the rest aired is a possible strategy to keep costs down. Are you in all day?

Eventually, if things aren't sorted, you could ask for the council's EHO to inspect, but he/she will only report on severe matters injurious to health, so you might even be told yours is not too bad in many respects. He/she won't look at the ceiling joists, for example.

pmlindyloo

You need to follow the advice as outlined here:

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/council_housing_association/complaints_about_councils

You can also contact Shelter for advice.

It is very important that you get a time line as regards reporting these repairs to add weight to your complaint that these repairs are taking too long.

A visit to CAB who can make a call to the council on your behalf can often speed things up.
And/or get your local MP involved.

Itsmyselfnme

Hi
Thanks to all that replied ,

The housing officer has said that she did ask the lady who gave me the keys for the property about the worktops and said that yes I am right but that she didn't know what happened ! ,

I'm in wales , and the HA has been handed over to another company as they were being investigated ,
I did ask a company who were offering free boilers etc and they said as I was a HA tenant it was down to them to ask ,

I'll be honest with you when they didn't come out about the bath water pouring from ceiling I have driven 83 miles to my perants house to have a shower ,

Im also having a lot of grief from a neighbour because I asked him if he didn't mind moving his car just for me to get a washing machine out he went mad and I'm not exaggerating he flipped out threatened my partner and I had to call the police because I'm in a small town and apparently it was a silly move to ask him to move the car because everyone knows he sees himself as being the law on parking ,
Every time I see him he does something , I heard him knocking every neighbours doors slating me , I feel like a prisoner in my own house , when my mother came to see me , my dad had to park down the road and struggle with a wheelchair (my mother is frail) because the neighbour now parks outside my house and leaves a huge gap and then his wife is parked outside there , they have 3 cars ,

All I want is for the housing to get me out of here and to reimburse me the money I'm in debt to , the hallway carpet was ruined cos of the water , and I owe my mother £160 because of diesel ,

I just think its so unfair I've had to go in debt because the housing were switching over new company and they were too busy ,

I was told that they have to sort out a complaint within 20 days and if I was in england I could have used the housing ombudsman to try and get money back but I'm in wales ,

I don't know who to ask , I just wanted to know my rights (law side)

theartfullodger

You need to calmly & politely report (if not done already), in writing/email, keep copies, your issues following the housing association complaints procedure.

e.g.
https://www.ccha.org.uk/you-and-your-home/report-a-repair/

& follow the advice from Shelter Cymru here
https://sheltercymru.org.uk/get-advice/repairs-and-bad-conditions/repairs-in-social-housing/

Best wishes, hope things get better.

[Deleted User]

I am so sorry you are experiencing this (having problems with council after moving into place needing repairs but nothing like you are experiencing).

I would suggest contacting your MP.., if they are any good they will write to the HA asking what is happening and this might speed the HA up.

Take a copy of any correspendence you have with the HA, logs of phone calls, visits etc (even a bullet point list of contact you have had).

Hope it gets better soon. Feel your pain.

Get letter from GP showing your health has been affected (things like medication increases etc).

You could try phoning Shelter too https://england.shelter.org.uk/get_help/helpline

Shelter advice re council/HA repairs:

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/complain_about_council_or_housing_association_repairs

Sorry these are Shelter UK links

HampshireH

're getting them to pay your debt. That's highly unlikely. You should have contents insurance for your carpet and made a claim if they declined to cover the cost and it's almost certain they wont pay your diesel.

The HA have a responsibility to carry out repairs. You don't give timescales as to when you reported things but I expect the Association has a repairs policy and also a complaints procedure has you pursued these?

Wales has a public services ombudsmen if you have exhausted the complaints process which you can refer your complaint to. Have you done all of This?

[Deleted User]

I would phone Shelter Cymru and http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/888/page/87800 Public Health Wales to see if there is any room for manouvre re your house being 'unfit for human habitation' . I am sorry, I don't know your situation and what is considered fit and unfit in Wales.

Worth asking though.