She spent months asking for help, then the ceiling collapsed above her head
A woman named Sarah and her eight-year-old daughter narrowly escaped injury when part of their kitchen ceiling collapsed after months of neglected repair requests to their housing association, Onward Homes. The family has faced numerous issues, including rats, leaks, and poor repair work, severely impacting their mental health. Despite repeated complaints, repairs were either delayed or inadequately addressed. Onward Homes has since promised to investigate and complete necessary repairs.
Ceiling collapses on mother and daughter after months of ignored repair pleas: ‘They’ve left us to rot’
A Chadderton mother and her eight-year-old daughter narrowly escaped injury when their kitchen ceiling collapsed while they were making tea Friday night, raining debris and foul-smelling black water onto their refrigerator.
Sarah, who asked that her real name not be used out of embarrassment over her home’s condition, wasn’t surprised by the collapse. She had spent months calling her housing association, Onward Homes, about the bulging corner above their heads.
“The house feels rotten. And I feel rotten in it,” Sarah told the Manchester Evening News.
The ceiling collapse represents just the latest crisis for the family, who moved into the council house four years ago through a swap arrangement. Within their first year, kitchen cupboard doors began falling off hinges and destroying crockery. Then came rats.
“I used to not sleep because I was paranoid about them coming into the bedroom. I could hear them scratching at the bedroom door,” Sarah recalled, shuddering.
Contractors dismantled the bath panel to set rat traps after the rodents chewed through rubber pipes, but Sarah says the subsequent bathroom repair was a “cowboy job.” The panel now leans loosely against a bathtub balanced precariously on two uneven wooden cut-offs, allowing water to trickle through and contribute to the kitchen ceiling’s deterioration.
Sarah, who works as a teaching assistant at a local school, has launched a disrepair claim against Onward through a solicitor. An almost 40-page surveyor’s report documents numerous problems throughout the property.
“Most of the time it feels like I get ignored,” she said. “It’s about the four years of crap I’ve had to deal with. It’s about the hours I’ve spent on the phone listening to their stupid hold music. It’s about the repairmen who come by and say ‘oh I can’t fix that’ and then sit in their vans for an hour.”
An Onward Homes spokesperson said they had been “working with Ms Heywood to find a time that is convenient to her to carry out necessary repairs” and attended the same day she reported the recent leak to make the ceiling safe. After the M.E.N. contacted them, contractors visited and promised a new kitchen and bathroom renovation starting Monday.
“They’ve done this before and then nothing came of it,” Sarah said. “So let’s just hope.”
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