A housing association has said it will support its residents by repairing issues in their homes after several complaints were made to the News Shopper.
Nick Lindsay, Lisa Cross and two other residents (who wish to be kept anonymous) from south east London reached out to the News Shopper regarding “ongoing” issues in their homes which are managed by the Peabody housing association.
The News Shopper previously reported on a mum from Erith who said she had discovered years of mould in her family home - which is also managed by Peabody.
She explained that the housing association had “not been responsive” to fixing the problems in her property.
At the time a spokesperson for Peabody apologised, and said it is “committed” to tackling house problems.
A spokesperson for Peabody has since said improving its repair service is a “high priority” and it “knows it is frustrating” for people when issues in their home are not fixed.
The housing association also apologised for any distress caused by the delays.
A spokesperson for Peabody said: “We know it’s frustrating for people when issues in their home aren’t fixed quickly, and we’re really sorry for the distress caused by delays.
“Improving our repairs service is a high priority for us.
“Out of over 1,000 repairs in the area over the last few months, 92 per cent of people told us they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of the repair, and 88 per cent said they were satisfied with the speed of the repair.
“We are working to improve this further including where there is damp and mould to fix the root cause and prevent it coming back.
“We have taken action on the cases raised with us and have further appointments scheduled to help resolve the issues for residents.”
Here are the recent cases reported to the News Shopper:
Nick Lindsay, 36, from Thamesmead said he has been experiencing problems at his family home for the past two years.
Nick said issues have been “ongoing” with the bannister in his home which he described it be “wobbly” and “dangerous” for his family.
He said he feels “neglected” by the housing association and that it seems that they don’t care about the safety of his kids.
Nick said they addressed the problem, however “not to the best of their ability.”
He explained: “Erith and Thamesmead seem to be a forgotten section by Peabody.
“We’ve had a problem with our bannister, it’s very wobbly which is a dangerous hazard for my partner and kids.
“All they have done about fixing the problem is putting a few screws on the bannisters.”
“It has been about two years since we’ve had this problem.
“My partner has got a condition called ME and she’s already fallen because of the unsteadiness of the bannisters.”
A spokesperson for Peabody confirmed that it visited Nick’s home several times to repair the issue with the banister.
The spokesperson said: “Our maintenance team will be going to the property again today (February 1) to try and resolve the situation.
“Our teams have been out to Nick’s home several times to repair the issue with the banister.”
A resident from Thamesmead, who wishes to be kept anonymous, said she has been experiencing damp and mould issues since she moved into her property in late 2016.
She explained that Lewisham Hospital “confirmed that her youngest daughter has been diagnosed with a high allergy to mould which was caused from her home”.
The resident said the housing association have responded to her issue but the problem “keeps reoccurring.”
She said: “We’ve had mould in our property since we’ve pretty much moved in.
“But my youngest daughter has been diagnosed with a high allergy to the mould which was confirmed by Lewisham hospital.
“They just send someone over to clean it and put a sealant on it and then go.
“Peabody had made us wait two weeks in September when my daughter had bad mould in their bedroom, and it was back again in December.”
A spokesperson for Peabody said it takes reports of damp and mould “seriously” and it will be inspecting her home “thoroughly” to assess what works are needed to resolve the issue “as soon as possible.”
Lisa Cross, 41 of Whinchap Road in Thamesmead said she’s been experiencing heating issues in her property since New Year’s Day.
The mum-of-four said she felt “neglected” by Peabody as it took them six days to respond to her “urgent” issue.
She said: “On New Year’s Day it all started with a leak in my son and daughter’s bedroom where the water soaked all floorboards and our belongings.”
“Then I released I started having issues with my heating.
“It took them six days to respond, leaving me and my kids in the cold for almost a week.
“After they responded and sent someone to resolve the problem, they said to me “that it should be fixed” not that it is fixed.
“They didn’t give me the guarantee or confidence to say the problem was fixed.
“It made me feel upset and so neglected.”
Peabody said it responded as quickly as it could in addressing Lisa’s situation.
A spokesperson for Peabody said: “When Lisa reported the issue with her heating to us in January, we repaired it as quickly as we could.
“We have since spoken to Lisa and we will be going to visit her home today at her convenience to address any outstanding issues.”
A resident from Thamesmead, who wishes to be kept anonymous, said she first experienced problems in her property in February 2021.
She said her sink in her bathroom started to come off the wall.
The resident said that the sink fell on the main water pipe which caused her property to flood.
She said: “On December 7, the sink fell off the wall on the main water pipe of the sink, which exploded.
“This could have hurt me and my six-year-old daughter and I’m also heavily pregnant so the sink could have hit my stomach.
“It was like the water was coming out of the pipe like a fireman’s hose. It was terrible, terrible.”
“My property was flooded in the space of ten minutes.
“Everything was destroyed.”
She told the News Shopper that they had to call the fire brigade.
“They finally sent an electrician and a plumber, but they didn’t do much.
“My six-year-old was soaked from head to shoulder.
“Luckily, they put me into temporary accommodation in Blackheath.”
Peabody said it responded “as soon as” the issue was reported to them in December and offered the resident “temporary” accommodation.
A Peabody spokesperson said: “We responded to the water leak as soon as it was reported to us in December.
“She was offered temporary accommodation whilst we carried out the repairs.
“This was resolved, and we have since had a report of another leak on January 19.
“Our teams will be visiting her home at her convenience today (February 1) to investigate any further repairs that are needed and to propose a plan of works.”
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