An East Kilbride homeowner says she feels she has nowhere left to turn after a six-year row with South Lanarkshire Council over water persistently seeping into and damaging her flat.
Jacqueline Younger bought the second floor flat in Colonsay, St Leonards, in 2016 and says the council failed in its duty as factor of the block to identify and repair faults to the roof a number of years ago.
Initially faulty roughcast was blamed and was repaired by the council in 2017, costing residents in the block of the flats over £1000 each, but this did nothing to fix Jacqueline's water ingress problems.
The local authority says an independent chartered surveyor has concluded the cause of the water ingress into Jacqueline's flat is the positioning of her windows - not faults with the roof.
It does however concede that roof tiles on the block are "beyond economic repair" and need replaced.
An inspection was carried out on behalf of the council in 2020, which revealed the roof needed to be replaced.
And the council's position that Jacqueline's windows are to blame has been dismissed by the frustrated homeowner.
She told Lanarkshire Live that there was evidence of water getting in prior to her replacing the windows shortly after she bought the flat in 2016, with the cavity wall "soaked through".
And despite having the windows refitted again last year, the water has continued to pour in when bad weather hits.
Jacqueline fumed: I’ve been treated very badly by South Lanarkshire Council. They haven't considered the stress that I’ve been put under or the impact this has had on my well-being.
"Every time there is rain and bad weather, I have puddles of water in my flat at the windows. It's been a total nightmare and I have spent a fortune trying to patch things up and on decoration but have given up now; there is no point until this is fixed once and for all.
"I even replaced and moved the windows for a second time at no small cost, as the council was insistent that's what was to blame.
"It has not made one bit of difference and the company who installed them said categorically that the windows are not to blame for the water getting in.
"The council even came out October last year and re-fitted the bathroom window yet again and water is still getting through. The issue is the roof.
"I instructed two independent surveyors in 2020 who also concluded the windows weren't to blame.
"I have been pushed from pillar to post and the council just isn't taking this matter seriously enough at all.
"Now the council is wanting a total of approximately £30k for block refurbishment including work to the roof - it's ridiculous."
Councillor Jim Wardhaugh, who is backing Jacqueline in her ongoing fight, said: "I really think South Lanarkshire Council has been totally incompetent in this case and have treated my constituent extremely badly and is continuing to do so.
"Basically, six years ago the council failed to identify a roof leak as the source of water ingress. They claimed the cause was a fault in rough cast was to blame and charged residents for repairs.
"Since then they have totally failed to rectify the leak in the roof. Despite numerous visits to the property by operatives and consultants, the roof still needs repaired.
"The position now is that the council want the residents to pay for a complete roof refurbishment - at an astronomical cost.
"I find this whole saga totally unacceptable - that an organisation as large as South Lanarkshire Council in the 21st century has spent six years failing to effect a roof repair and is now trying to transfer the responsibility for the whole fiasco to the residents.
"As factors they should be effecting a repair to the roof without any more prevarication."
He added: "I think in addition that my constituent is due compensation for the stress she has been subject to for six years , not to mention the financial cost of having her windows removed and re-fitted because the council decided they were responsible for the problem."
A council spokesperson said that inspections and surveys of the block have been carried out both by the council and by independent chartered surveyors and the evidence gathered doesn't support the claims made by Jacqueline or Councillor Wardhaugh - with the independent reports provided to both of them.
The local authority insists that surveys and inspections have identified the cause of the water ingress in Jacqueline's flat as being due to the positioning of windows and as they are "not a common part of the fabric of the building" it is her responsibility to address this.
The spokesperson added: "With regard to the common roof of the block, which is now around 50 years old, during the various inspections it was noted that the roof tiles are beyond economic repair.
"The council has consulted with the owners on three occasions to seek their consent to have this work carried out, however on each occasion none of the five owners have provided approval.
"The council requires a majority of owners to provide approval to undertake the work and will continue to liaise with the owners in an attempt to take this work forward."
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