A TEACHING assistant recently diagnosed with coronavirus would have been left without heating or hot water for four days if it wasn’t for a family friend.

Mum-of-one Chelsea O'Brien, 28, raised the alarm with her housing association Abri Housing Group on Thursday after the boiler packed up.

She was told that no engineers would be available until Monday – leaving her and her two-year-old daughter without heating for four nights as temperatures plummet to -1c.

Chelsea said: “I have tested positive for Covid-19 and am a single parent of a two-year-old.

“On top of feeling rubbish, I have had no hot water or heating since Thursday morning and Abri Housing Group has refused to send someone out until Monday.

Basingstoke Gazette: Chelsea pictured with her daughter Chelsea pictured with her daughter

“I will have to spend the whole weekend without heating and hot water in the house.

“I understand I have Covid however I have told them I would wait in the garden.

“I find it unbelievable they don’t have procedures in place for these inevitable situations.”

Under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, tenants have the right to expect their landlords will carry out repairs in a ‘reasonable time’.

If it is an emergency repair such as no heating or hot water, landlords are expected to fix these problems within 24 hours.

Chelsea told The Gazette she was given two small heaters by the housing association and was told engineers could turn the job down because she has coronavirus.

The mother-of-one said she was surprised the housing association didn’t have procedures in place to deal with what is an inevitable situation, given the current ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Luckily, a family friend visited her house last night to fix her boiler otherwise she and her daughter would have been left without until Monday.

Chelsea said her message to the housing association is to get a procedure in place to ensure families aren’t left without heating or hot water at the coldest period of the year.

Sarah Sargent, Director of Customer Experience at Abri, said: “The safety and wellbeing of our customers and colleagues will always be our priority. We wish Miss O’Brien a speedy recovery from Covid-19 and fully understand the difficulties of being without hot water and proper heating for a short period. 

“An Abri engineer visited Miss O’Brien at her home within two hours of the first call on Thursday and delivered temporary heaters with a commitment to return when a further risk assessment could be undertaken and when subsequent diary changes could be made to mitigate the risks to further customers scheduled to be visited later that day. While all our engineers have the necessary PPE, they would only go into a Covid-positive household in an emergency situation where there is serious and immediate danger to the customer. This is to ensure their own safety as well as that of our other customers, many of which are extremely vulnerable to the effects of Covid-19.

“In this instance, an engineer was able to return on Monday because he had cleared his diary and was not seeing any other customers that day, thus limiting the risk to others. During the period in question the customer had a temporary heating supply and a commitment to remedy the hot water as soon as a risk assessment and further specialist advice was obtained in terms of how to enter the property and conduct the repair.”

The Gazette put the following questions to the housing association: 

  • The tenant alerted Abri to the issue on Thursday and was told an engineer wouldn't be available until Monday. By law, landlords have to rectify heating and hot water problems within a 'reasonable amount of time' with 24 hours seen as the desired time period. Please can you advise why this has not been possible? 

“We always send an engineer to emergency call-outs within 24 hours. In this particular case, we sent an engineer to the property within two hours of the initial call. Depending on the issue, our engineers are sometimes able to fix the problem immediately. At other times it’s necessary for us to order parts and attend on another day to complete the repair - usually within five working days.” 

  • What procedures in place does Abri have in dealing with tenants who have tested positive for the disease? The tenant said she was told some engineers wouldn't want to come out. 

“While all our engineers have the necessary PPE, they would only go into a Covid-positive household in an emergency situation and where there is serious danger to the customer. This is to ensure their own safety as well as that of our other customers.”
 

  • Does Abri think it is acceptable for a tenant who is ill with Covid and with a young child to be left in a property with no heating and hot water for four days? 

“The safety and wellbeing of our customers is always our priority and we do appreciate the difficulties of being without hot water and proper heating for a short period of time, especially when you have children. Until a boiler is fixed, we always provide customers with temporary heaters. 

“For Covid-positive households, we must make sure both our customers and colleagues are safe. We’ll only send an engineer into a Covid-positive household where there is serious and immediate danger to the customer. In this instance, one of our engineers felt able to attend on the following Monday because he had cleared the diary and was not seeing any other customers that day, thus minimising the risk to our wider customer base including those with extreme vulnerabilities. It is extremely important that in such circumstances we consider the individual customer, the wider public, as well as our colleagues.”

  • How long does Abri usually leave tenants without heating and hot water for? What is the minimum or maximum amount of time a tenant has been left without in the last 12 months?

“We always send an engineer to emergency call-outs within 24 hours. In this particular case, we sent an engineer to the property within two hours of the initial call. Depending on the issue, our engineers are sometimes able to fix the problem immediately. At other times it’s necessary for us to order parts and attend on another day to complete the repair (usually within five working days). Until a boiler is fixed, we always provide customers with temporary heaters.”