Newark and Sherwood District Council tenant left without heating for eight months in Balderton flat which also has mould issues
A council tenant is “at her wits end” after being left without heating or hot water for eight months.
Natalie Roe, of Balderton, is also suffering with mould in her council house — which has caused her son to have to move out.
Natalie explained that she had reported the issue to landlord Newark and Sherwood District Council “too many times” over the past eight months, and it had yet to result in the situation being fixed.
“They keep sending engineers out,” she said.
“They all say the whole system needs replacing as it is a heat source pump.
“I’m constantly chasing it up, I’m at my wits end.”
Natalie, who also has lupus, currently relies on a borrowed electric heater to warm her bedroom, where she says she now spends all of her time when at home.
She also admitted she would not be able to sustain the cost of running it all throughout winter.
She added: “I’ve been in tears quite frankly.
“I can’t get warm. My joints keep swelling up and I’m aching all over. I’ve got no hot water so when I get home from work I can’t have a bath to soak my joints.
“The thought of going into the winter without heating is horrible.
“It’s causing flare ups and its affecting my work, I’m cold and tired and I have to keep taking time off to let engineers into the house.”
The property has also had issues with mould since Natalie moved in in 2017 — and the lack of heating is now exacerbating the issue.
With just one room heated by the electric heater, the remaining cold rooms develop condensation.
Her teenage son has also had to move to his grandmother’s house as his room is affected by the mould.
Despite her numerous attempts to have the issue resolved, Natalie remains without heating — and says she has even been called by an engineer to discuss installing solar panels for her heating, despite her living in ground-floor flat.
Lee Brazier, portfolio holder for housing at Newark and Sherwood District Council said: “We take our responsibility to our tenants extremely seriously, and whilst due to GDPR legislation, we cannot comment on the specifics of this case, I can set out our approach to damp and mould issues.
“As a landlord, we always do our best to ensure our homes are in a good state of repair, and we have a robust policy in place to address any mould issues reported to us. This includes inspecting homes promptly after the initial report, confirming actions or repairs required and the likely timescales as well as advice and support on reducing condensation in the home while we organise the repairs.
“We encourage all our tenants to contact us directly if they have any concerns, questions or complaints and encourage tenants to feed into the work we do and the how we do it to give a good customer experience. If any tenant wishes to raise a concern with us or help us by getting involved with service improvement, our doors are always open.”
After the Advertiser made contact with the council, Natalie was contacted with a replacement date for her air source heat pump and professional mould cleaning.
