Apartment in Diglis destroyed by water leak for almost a year

Carl Allen, of Portland Point, Diglis, has been living with the leak for nearly a year, which has caused his ceiling to collapse and left him without electricity.

However, Citizen Housing said the leak was coming from the apartment above, which the company does not own, making it difficult to fix the problem.

The housing association has even offered to repair the leak in the apartment above, even though it does not own the property.

Mr Allen said: “The problems started in October last year when a leak appeared in my ceiling.

“I call Citizens Housing every week and they always send a plumber over to tell me the leak is coming from the apartment above and then they leave.

“Nothing is clarified.”

Although it started with a small leak, the damage to Mr. Allen's apartment has slowly increased and his home is now uninhabitable.

Large puddles of water have formed in the bathroom and hallway, and water has leaked through appliances such as light fixtures and smoke detectors.

“I have to go to my friend's house every time I need to use the bathroom,” said Mr Allen. “I have no electricity, no smoke detectors and the ceiling of my bathroom has collapsed.”

“I went on vacation for a week and gave them my keys so they could sort something out while I was away.

“They never came to do anything and they didn't give me back my key.”

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Peter Gill, Director of Housing Care and Support at Citizen Housing, said: “We regret the issues the customer at Portland Point is experiencing in relation to a water leak in the apartment above which has damaged his ceiling.”

“The water leak is coming from an apartment that does not belong to us. Therefore, we need the tenant’s permission to access the apartment and carry out repair work.

“We have offered to carry out the repair work on the above-mentioned apartment for the tenant, although this is not our responsibility.

“The apartment above our client’s house was also recently sold and the owner contacted us to discuss the issue.

“We are committed to working with our customers and third parties to resolve this issue.”