A dad has voiced his distress over a leaking boiler that has caused damage to the flooring at his family’s flat in Caversham.
Richard Makepeace, 57, lives in a flat at Flambards with his partner and 16 year-old son.
They live there in a flat managed by the Southern Housing Group, one of the largest housing providers in the country.
Recently, the family faced issues with a leaking boiler, which led to the carpet and flooring of their flat being ruined.
Mr Makepeace has complained of late call-outs and repair workers ‘not bothering’ to fix the boiler.
He said: “The boiler has been leaking for about three weeks. Someone came out at 11-11.30pm on a Tuesday.
“That same week they didn’t come round when they said, and when they did come I had to lose half a day’s pay.
“My son’s carpet has been flooded out.
“I’ve been waiting for it to be repaired for about two weeks, one of the workmen who came out said the system has gone on it.
“The water kept on leaking from somewhere and got the carpet all wet.
“They said they would send someone out, but they haven’t come out yet, so we’re not happy about it.
“It should have been done two weeks ago.”
The boiler leak occurred as Southern Housing Group has made changes to its residential repairs system from a contract model to bringing repairs in-house.
Mr Makepeace mentioned a contractor from United Living making some of the earlier visits.
He said: “They didn’t bother to fix it. I’m not happy, I have to get a new carpet and want some form of compensation because it’s not on.”
Mr Makepeace predicted that he and his partner lost £700-£800 due to taking time off work waiting for the repairs.
The issue for the family was exacerbated as Mr Makepeace is asthmatic. He also claimed the family were left without hot water for four days while the contractors undertook initial inspections of the boiler.
The change in Southern Housing’s repair policy at an unfortunate time for the family has been blamed for the delay in fixing the issue.
A spokesperson for Southern Housing said: “We’re sorry for the repair issues that Mr Makepeace has experienced at his home.
“We’ve agreed to replace his water tank on Wednesday, October 30 in order to avoid future issues.
“Our team have spoken to Mr Makepeace’s partner about the delays they’ve
experienced with our previous contractor.
“From October 1, we brought our repairs in-house and are actively addressing any outstanding repairs.
“Mr Makepeace’s partner also told us their carpet and lino flooring have been
damaged by the leak and we’ve agreed to replace these as part of our repair works.”
