A Harrogate woman has spoken of her anger at Yorkshire Housing for having to endure “unbearably hot” conditions in her flat since 2011.
Angela Sansom is the leaseholder of a flat on Kings Road in Harrogate. Yorkshire Housing, which is based in Leeds and owns and manages about 20,000 homes in Yorkshire, has the freehold.
Ms Sansom said work carried out on behalf of Yorkshire Housing on the roof and windows of the property in 2011 made the flat unbearably hot, with the temperature often reaching up to 29 degrees centigrade.
She said the regular high temperatures and the time it has taken to resolve the issue has had a devastating impact on her mental health.
Fed up by how long the matter was taking to resolve, Ms Sansom opened an official complaint in June last year.
A surveyor’s report, commissioned by Yorkshire Housing in response to the complaint, recommended measures such as installing trickle vents and heat reflective solar films to reduce the impact of the sun.
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Now Yorkshire Housing has submitted a planning application to amend the initial works. It has admitted two roof vents should have been included in the original work 10 years ago and will now be installed alongside other measures.
Ms Sansom said:
“It has had a massive effect on my wellbeing. I’ve lived in this house for over 20 years so I know it’s the work that caused the problem. It became unbearable.
“It wasn’t getting any better so I knew I had to lodge the complaint.”
Ms Sansom said she was pleased the planning application has been submitted but disappointed by the way the matter has been handled. She said Yorkshire Housing should have done more to support her during the process.
A Yorkshire Housing spokesperson said:
“Work was carried out in 2011 to the roof and windows of one of our properties in Harrogate, this work was approved by planning and was undertaken in full accordance with building regulations.
“We have now submitted a planning application to make amendments to these works and to make sure the leaseholder has a comfortable home and we hope work will begin in the coming weeks.
“Yorkshire Housing is meeting the full cost of all the works undertaken to help support the customers wellbeing and we’re still in touch through a dedicated contact to keep them updated on progress.”
