A HOUSING association has pledged to fix a catalogue of problems a householder has experienced in a Cotford St Luke home.

Emma Brooks, who lives in Milsom Place with her two children both under 10, claims:

  • the kitchen is "falling apart;
  • the bath leaks and the panels have fallen off;
  • the kitchen and bathroom floors are rotten and have big holes;
  • the back door is difficult to lock and the frame is broken and crumbling.

Ms Brooks, who has been in the property for 20 years, said: "The situation is absolutely dire.

"Over Christmas I noticed my boiler, which is situated in the kitchen, had been leaking water onto a unit.

"The boiler was still working at this point, but I was worried about it cutting out.

"I rang LiveWest (housing association) and was told it wasn't an emergency because I still had heating and hot water.

"I thought that it should have been done within 24 hours because of the risk of electricity and water - I have three sockets very close to the base of the boiler. They gave me a date over a week away.

"I then had sleepless nights as the leak was getting worse by the hour. It kept flooding the unit and by January 7 the boiler had completely cut out, with a fault code on the display."

Without heating, the family put on coats and hats indoors to keep warm and slept together to keep warm, while the boiler continued to leak.

To make matters worse, they contracted Covid and the engineer sent to assist declined to enter the house, leaving two plug-in electric heaters.

Then the kitchen unit below the leaking boiler rotted and collapsed on a water pipe, causing the sink to fall out and water to "pour everywhere".

"I felt beyond stressed and had a permanent migraine," said Ms Brooks.

"We were surrounded by large puddles of water and a soaking wet carpet.

"I felt sick with cold and stress. I am diabetic and have severe asthma. My health has been really compromised by my living conditions."

Workers visited to cut off the water supply in the kitchen and disconnect the cooker and sink, leaving the family with no heating or hot water and no cooking or washing machine facilities.

Liane Sheppard, director of property services for LiveWest, said: “Customers’ safety and wellbeing is our highest priority and we take complaints very seriously.

“We’re sorry to hear of the issues that Ms Brooks has experienced and the impact this has had on her and her family.

“We were notified of a leak to the boiler, and this was contained while we sourced the parts needed to carry out a permanent fix.

“The boiler is now working fine, and Ms Brooks has full access to hot water and heating.

“Our contractor visited the property last week and identified a programme of works that is required to address the repairs needed in the kitchen and bathroom. This is a priority and will take place as soon as possible.

“Ms Brooks still has full use of the main appliances in her kitchen. We will continue to provide support to Ms Brooks and her family.”