Colchester mum had to wait months for repairs to new home

Colchester councillor Lee Scordis said the resident found the property in a state of disrepair when she moved into the house owned by Sanctuary housing association earlier this year.

Mr Scordis said she discovered broken glass, missing bannisters and damage to the bathroom, kitchen, radiators and flooring.

She was put in temporary accommodation by Sanctuary – but after three months she went back to the home and found no repairs had been done.

Sanctuary apologised for the delay and said work had now been completed.

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The housing association also said the tenant had agreed to move into the property privately with the previous tenant and had inspected it herself.

Mr Scordis said the damage had been covered up when the woman inspected the property.

He said: “When she moved in, the house was an absolute state. Bannisters were missing when she had small children, carpet was ripped up, there were holes behind the radiator, the bathroom was a mess, the shower was broken, the kitchen was outdated, the windows don’t open.

“When you move into a house, you want it to be nice and stress free and she had to move into a dump.

“There’s questions of firstly why were Sanctuary not inspecting this property regularly and disciplining the tenant who ruined their property and why did they allow someone to move in?"

Sanctuary said because the woman moved into the property by mutual exchange with the previous tenant, it was not involved in the initial process.

The tenant was left disgusted at the state of the property

A spokesman said: “After viewing this property privately, the current tenant agreed a mutual exchange with the previous resident and then moved in in March.

“We recently identified the additional work required in the kitchen when the floor covering was pulled up and immediately moved the family into temporary alternative accommodation so the work could be done.

“The work was completed on Friday, June 10, and the family moved back home on Saturday morning.

“We have also completed various other repairs and have already agreed to undertake further work later this month. We are sorry this has taken longer than expected to arrange.”