A 90-year-old woman has been left with a gaping hole in her roof for nearly three weeks, despite appealing to her housing association to carry out repairs.
Joyce Eileen Major who is deaf and partially blind has been left exposed to the elements after an air vent cover blew off her bungalow roof in Elmstead Market.
Despite multiple complaints, Places for People housing association has failed to carry out the repairs.
Joyce's son and carer Barry Major, 67, first reported the issue on February 4.
A company was supposedly assigned to fix the damage, but after being scheduled for the past three Fridays, they never showed up.
Barry now fears more delays.
“You try and get through to these people. They let you down every day. It’s not like I haven’t tried,” he said.
Barry, who is unable to climb on to the roof himself, feels helpless as the situation worsens.
“You wait all day, but they don’t turn up," he said.
"They cancel. It's making my mum and me seriously ill. It's diabolical.”
Despite his persistence, the repairs remain undone.
Meanwhile, he says Joyce’s health has suffered due to the cold and damp.
Barry has filed a formal complaint, but says Places for People has yet to take action.
“This should be a 15-minute job,” he said. “Yet, here we are, nearly three weeks later, with nothing but broken promises.”
With worsening weather conditions, Barry fears the damage could escalate, leading to further deterioration of his mother’s home and her health.
Barry added: "My mum's fallen two times and she is crying, saying with all this rain coming in the ceiling won’t hold.
"Sometimes I wish we could move out of this place, but that’s not going to happen."
A Places for People spokesman said: “We are sorry for the time taken to resolve Mrs Major’s repair.
“Due to the demand for our services over winter, some jobs have taken longer than we would like. We are in touch with our contractors today to expedite the repair as soon as possible.
“We will continue to work closely with our customer until the repair is resolved.”
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