Haverhill tenant of Metropolitan Housing angry after damaged ceiling leaves kitchen ‘unusable’ for two years

A social housing tenant says he has 'gone through two-and-a-half years of hell' with his landlords, saying poor levels of repair and maintenance have left him unable to even use his own kitchen.

Ben Boyle said his problems with Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH) began in April 2023, when the ceiling in the kitchen of his ground floor flat in Keeble's Yard, Haverhill, collapsed.

Ben said he had reported a leak in the ceiling in January of that year but nothing was done. When the collapse happened, the problem turned out to be with a faulty boiler in the flat above.

The ceiling was fixed, said Ben, 38, but not until five months after the collapse, but he said the poor standard of repair had left him with ongoing issues, including being unable to use his kitchen.

The ongoing issues connected to his flat and the stress it has caused him, he added, had rendered him unable to work for some months.

Ben said: "It's impacted on us massively, financially it's ruined me. Just the stress of it and the mental health affects. There are live electrics hanging out.

"Multiple times they could have dealt with it.

"They obviously fixed it but didn't do a good enough job because I've got mould and condensation and the ceiling looks like it is going to collapse on us at any time.

"I've not been using my own kitchen for two years. You wouldn't put your own pet, your own dog, in it."

Ben, who lives alone, said he had only received two visits from anyone at Metropolitan since the ceiling collapsed, one of which was for a cleaner sent to sort out the mess caused by the incident.

He has also been unable to take a shower or bath for four weeks, and has been using a kettle to heat up water for a wash.

Ben said he had been to county court three times this year because his landlords claimed that he was in arrears with his rent, but said the issue had now been resolved.

Meanwhile, Ben said an electrician who inspected his electrics told him that they may need to be completely rewired due to an issue connected to his boiler.

"They've not done anything about it and every aspect of my life has been damaged and it's ruined my finances,” said Ben.

"I've not even wanted to invite people round just because of how bad it is.

"They've left me for two-and-a-half years in absolute disarray and disrepair."

A spokesman for MTVH said: “Emergency issues, such as the ceiling collapse experienced by our resident, are extremely distressing and disruptive. We recognise the serious impact they have and treat such incidents with the urgency they demand. The safety and wellbeing of our residents is our absolute priority and we remain actively engaged in addressing the issues at this property.

“Following the ceiling collapse, our team urgently carried out a deep clean and a series of repairs.

“Despite multiple attempts to visit the property since these repairs, access has not been granted, preventing progress on resolving further issues.

“While we have not received specific complaints about damp and mould, we treat all complaints about damp and mould with seriousness and urgency and will attempt again to contact the resident to resolve this.

“Following a power outage to the residents’ boiler caused by a leak on August 1 this year, we attended and made the situation safe.

“However, we acknowledge further remedial works were not identified at the time and that the resulting delay was unacceptable.

“We are now working to put things right and have reached out to the resident to discuss a rent refund for the period when the home was not habitable.

“We remain committed to resolving the outstanding issues and are now positively engaging with the resident to arrange a visit.

“Our absolute priority is restoring heating and hot water to the resident’s home.

“We take all reports of this nature extremely seriously and aim to resolve them promptly and thoroughly, while supporting our residents throughout.”