I’m 91 and have cancer but a London council let me live in a soaking, mouldy flat for a year | Money
I am a 91 -year -old tenant in a block of apartments belonging to the Wandsworth council. I live with saturated walls, dripping water and the fall of plaster because the council failed to resolve a leakage It started elsewhere in the block a year ago.
When I pointed it out for the first time, the entrepreneurs made a big opening in my kitchen wall to inspect a service duct which contains plumbing for 10 apartments. The hole has never been well done and now crawls insects.
The council plumbers have, over time, identified the possible source in various apartments, glued cards by the door asking the resident to contact, glued more cards when they do not get Answer, then decided that the leak came from another floor.
I received a bladder diagnosis cancer, and given the deterioration state of my house And the impact on my mental and physical health, I asked that the leak be redesigned in an emergency, but it was refused.
CA, London
The photo you sent from your kitchen is horrible. A substantial section of the wall around the inspection hole made by the entrepreneurs is soaked, discolored and collapsing. Military debris is dispersed along its base. These are dangerous conditions for anyone who must bear, not to mention a 91 -year -old man who recovers from cancer treatment.
It was in January when you contacted me for the first time. I first asked Giles Peaker, a partner of Anthony Gold Solicitors, to clarify where to start the responsibilities of a tip to tenants.
He confirmed that the Wandsworth council should be responsible for common areas and structures, including plumbing, and for all rental apartments, and that it should have a right of access to local apartments and lease to make repairs to these parties.
If the leak was in a lease apartment, the council would most likely have the power to force the occupier to repair it, or to revoke the lease. Repairs must be carried out within a reasonable time.
Despite this, the advice blamed the delay on “access difficulties” when I questioned its inertia. He told me that he had since discovered the leak in a lease apartment but had to wait for an asbestos test before he could be approached. However, he had told you, seven weeks before, that a asbestos test had been finished.
He ignored my questions about the gap but told you that his previous statement on the test carried out was mistaken. Three weeks after my contact, we told you that the leak was not where it was supposed to be after all, and therefore the waiting game continued.
The council refused to explain why an exploratory camera could not be inserted into the common duct through the opening of your kitchen, which has already been declared without asbestos. During the next three months, you and I have repeatedly chased the advice for updates.
In May, the leak was finally identified in a local and repaired apartment. At this stage, Wandsworth proposed to repair the damage to your apartment and installed a dehumidifier, but you, of course, be wary of its time scales, have decided to make the repairs through your insurer. You are still waiting for the dry area before repairs can start.
The council says: “We talked to the resident to apologize for the delay and he accepted a compensation offer of £ 400 for the stress and the disadvantages caused. We will examine our processes to make sure that this will not happen again. ” You say: “I think that the employees of the council with whom I treated tried to help in the context of a system that simply does not work, without any integrated imperative to do anything.”
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