Home of 93-year-old left 'damp and dangerous' after a leak

93-year-old Jessica Yates

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) has been criticised by the family of one of their residents in sheltered accommodation after her home was left "damp and dangerous" after a leak.

Ellen Wintle Yates, whose 93-year-old aunt Jessica lives in sheltered accommodation with RBH, has been left frustrated after they didn’t fix a leak and left carpets ripped up in the house.

Ellen said: “The leak was reported last Saturday and it has only just been fixed and RBH didn’t even fix it.”

Jessica, who lives at Springfield Close, Heywood noticed the leak on Saturday 2 November. The leak had caused her carpet between the bathroom door and bedroom door to get wet through.

Workmen from RBH attended the property to look for the leak but said they couldn’t find anything. A plumber was then sent to the property who also couldn’t find anything even though he had ripped the carpet up in the process. The plumber informed Jessica and her family that someone would come on Monday to have another look and left the carpet pulled up.

After this, Ellen spoke to the emergency warden for the property and was informed that the water had not been turned off and was still running despite there being a leak.

Ellen said that on Monday 4 November the warden of the property had been told by RBH that the leak had been fixed even though it hadn’t. Another workman was then sent to the property who said the leak was from the walk in shower. He sealed the shower and did the best he could to fix the carpet.

Ellen added: “My aunt is nearly blind and lives on her own so for them to leave the house in that way is ridiculous.”

By Tuesday 5 November, the leak was still a problem. Jessica lives in a flat upstairs and went to visit the lady below her to inform her of the leak. The lady in the property below had noticed a damp patch on her ceiling and the families concerns about damp carpets and water damage grew.

The leak was finally fixed on Thursday 7 November, five days after it was originally reported. The problem was resolved after Ellen’s son found the cause of the leak. “My son isn’t a plumber and isn’t a workman but he managed to find it and stop it. It was a leaking pipe from the central heating,” said Ellen.

Ellen now plans to make a formal complaint about the service. She said: “I am going to be making a formal complaint to RBH as well as Councillor Linda Robinson and our MP, Simon Danczuk.” 

A spokesperson for RBH said: “Following a report of a leak in the bathroom of one of our homes, a plumber visited on Saturday 2 November, with a subsequent visit on Wednesday 6 November. No leak was found in the bathroom or in the area outside. The door thresher was removed and the carpet pulled back to investigate. The carpet needed to be re-laid and this has now been completed.

“Subsequently a slight leak was discovered in the wider complex, which was initially difficult to detect. This has now been repaired by our subcontractor.

"We appreciate that this situation has created difficulties for our tenant and we are very sorry for the inconvenience caused.”