Shared ownership Housing assocation

nicx1

Hi everyone,

Looking for a bit of advice regarding dealing with a housing association of a shared ownership flat. My sister purchased 50% of a share in Oct last year. She was informed the week before completion that the living room floor had been replaced as apparently previous occupants had left window open and rain had ruined the floor. We're now not sure this was the case at all.

This week she noticed water coming through the laminate flooring and after calling someone out (housing association said this was her responsibility) they found that there was not water coming from inside the flat. They went to flat above (top floor of 5 floor block) and apparently they had an issue a while back where the water tanks on the roof are leaking and the water had been running in through the wall - they had to move out for 6 months and the housing association covered this.

She called the housing association back and finally managed to get them to agree to send a plumber round who came last night - he confirmed there was no water coming from the flat and thinks the problem is the guttering hasn't been cleared but someone would need to come today in daylight to check.

Today, no one has come round and my sister has been told that she has to go through insurance but surely the fault is theirs as they haven't been maintaining the building which she has been paying a service charge for?

How can she go about getting this sorted or who can she go to for help? The housing association don't seem to want to do anything and her living room floor is currently a soggy mess!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

foxy-stoat

I would of thought the first thing you need to do is find out exactly where the leak is coming from. Was it leaking more when it rains?

nicx1

Not noticeably, I think it's probably been a build up over time.

The guy she called out on Sunday managed to get access to the roof and took pictures of the water tanks with big puddles underneath and around them. But then the plumber from the housing association thinks it could be the guttering. Yet, they are refusing to do anything more and tell her to go through insurance.

Surely they should be using their buildings insurance (if any) as she pays the service charge and their plumber confirmed the water is not coming from her flat?

foxy-stoat

They would claim on the buildings insurance once the roof timbers have rotted away and fail - You will claim on your insurance for water damage to your contents ( flooring etc ).

Whether the insurers decide to claim on the HA's buildings insurance is a choice for them, although if the leak isnt fixed then the new flooring will fail again....crazy

AliceBanned

Who told her before completion that the previous owners had left the windows open? Is there evidence of her being told this? If it is the housing association then I am sure your sister should get legal advice. Someone was hiding a potentially serious ongoing problem from her and she went ahead and bought the flat without knowledge of this.She should have been told the truth at that point.

nicx1

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies.

So it sounds like the HA are shirking their responsibilities and they should be helping her out with this. She's been trying to get them to do something but they won't, any suggestions on how to get them to stop fobbing her off and actually take action?

She was told by the estate agent about the flooring being fixed, they certainly didn't give any indication that there was an issue with a leak, but they were also awful...

diggingdude

Does she have insurance which she can claim off? Not saying she should but may be worth running it past them?

Norman_Castle

How can she go about getting this sorted or who can she go to for help? The housing association don't seem to want to do anything and her living room floor is currently a soggy mess!

She needs to find out where the water is coming from. As the floor is now damaged and presumably being replaced can it be partially removed in the wet areas to try to find the source of the water.


I would be very sceptical about claims that laminate flooring would be damaged by rain through an open window.

nicx1

Thanks again for all the replies.

HA yesterday tried passing her to a third party - she couldn't even find the company using the name provided! Have now contacted Zurich as they are the insurers the HA arranged and she pays for through service charge, they seem to be quite good so fingers crossed this works!