A fed-up woman faces Christmas in a soaking wet flat covered in mould as she accused a housing association of ignoring her pleas for help with the problem. Ellie Rice noticed a leak from the cold water tank 10 weeks ago but says the issue still hasn't been fixed despite a string of calls and email exchanges with Clarion Housing.
Ellie, who lives in Lewisham in south London, says mould is spreading across her flat and the whole place is "dripping in water", leaving her fearful for her health and her safety. She is unable to use plug sockets in her flat because of the risk of fire, MyLondon reports.
The 29-year-old civil servant said she contacted Clarion to report a leak was coming from the vacant flat above her, causing water to leak down her walls and ceilings. What should have been a "half hour maintenance job", to fix the ballcock on the water tank, was actually made worse when an engineer came out to fix it.
She said she had to send Clarion before and after photos and videos to prove that the engineer had made the problem worse. Since then, Ellie says it feels like it is "constantly raining" inside her flat, which she recently bought after years of renting.
She now says she wishes she hadn't purchased it and was still renting because it means she can't do anything to her own property to fix the issue. She said: "With previous landlords, I’ve always had a good relationship and have been careful with who I rented from, so when there was an issue it would get fixed. Now, with Clarion Housing it’s like I own my own property but I can’t do anything about it being damaged.”
Ellie says she has been left “shouting into the void” with little response from Clarion. After initially contacting the association with reports of a leak coming from the flat above, she was left concerned by their lack of action. The flat above is unoccupied and she says it became clear that the ballcock on the water tank had broken, causing liquid to leak down her walls and ceilings.
“In theory, it should be a half hour maintenance job,” she said. “Someone did come out to fix it but they actually made it worse. I had to send photos and videos to them showing the before and after because the leak became so much worse after they sent someone out to sort it.”
The walls have been left soaking with Ellie saying it is like living in a flat that is “constantly raining”. The dampness has caused mould to spread throughout the property, with Ellie forcing to get rid of her curtains due to the constant spread. “My curtains were just covered so I went a while without any,” she said. “Then I just got a really cheap set from Dunelm because I thought what’s the point, it’s only going to be a matter of time before they get ruined again.”
Working from home has been made difficult in recent weeks, with the constant dripping around her. “All you can hear is the drip drip so it’s really distracting. It’s so dangerous and unsafe, I keep thinking thank God I’m not asthmatic or this would be a nightmare.”
When contacting Clarion, she was informed that their email account of the housing association had been hacked, and the only way to contact them was through Facebook messenger. “It just seems a really bizarre way to run an organisation,” she said. “They call from withheld numbers so you can never call them back or speak to the same person."
She claims she has been told on multiple occasions that her area manager will call her back, but then does not hear from them. “They’ll tell me over the phone that he’ll call but you hear nothing. I’ve told them that I’ve not received contact and then ask for his contact details but they respond ‘Oh sorry you’re going to have to ask him when he calls you’ - but he never does.
“They’ve told me they’ve been out seven or eight times but I question that because I’ve been at the property sometimes and I’ve seen no one,” she said. Despite lodging a formal complaint in November, she has not received a response from Clarion and she has been left frustrated by a complete lack of communication.
“With each little thing, my complaints towards them just get longer. I find it bizarre how little they know about the property, when they’ve been over they just don’t know anything which I find slightly concerning,” she said.
Such is the state of her living situation, Ellie is currently unable to use sockets in the flat due to it being a fire hazard. “The walls are soaking wet and the whole place is dripping in water and mould,” she said. “It’s so unsafe and it’s just been total incompetency from their side of things. It’ll get added to my notes that an action has been taken like my area manager contacting me, but I don’t hear anything so it’s just an endless cycle.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Clarion Housing said: “Our teams have been working hard to fix this difficult repair to the communal water tank, which has involved working with Thames Water and erecting temporary lighting to complete the work in the confined loft space. We are pleased to confirm the work has been completed today and we sincerely apologise for the impact this has had on the resident. At their convenience, we will be attending to make good the water damage.”
