Most teenagers will be hoping for the latest phones and gadgets or designer clothes this Christmas - but one 13-year-old girl simply wishes to have a warm bath after her family were left without heating or hot water for three months. The north London family have been left to brave the freezing cold temperatures since September after their landlord failed to fix their boiler.
The heartbroken mum and her daughter were even given a course of antibiotics after becoming unwell as they battled to stay warm during the recent cold snap, MyLondon reports. Nina, 36, lives in Bigler Court on Atlip Road in Alperton in a home she shares with her husband and two children.
She feels she has been let down by her landlord, housing association L&Q, after she first reported a fault with the boiler to them back on September 5. The heating then stopped working entirely, and although the family weren't really using it at that point in the year, Nina decided to report it so the issue could be sorted in time for winter.
It was first thought the boiler would need a replacement part, but after a string of visits, an engineer decided the whole unit needed to be replaced on October 7. More time went by while L&Q signed off on the plans, which was only ordered on November 16.
The social housing provider offered to put the family up in a hotel in Camden for three months until the new boiler was working, but Nina couldn't see how two adults, two children, three cats and two rabbits would survive in one single room for months.
She said: "What are we going to eat? How would we manage to take the kids to school? When I checked from Camden, it was over 40 minutes by train.”
The family had been boiling a kettle which they were adding to cold water and using in the bath. However, when the engineers turned off the old boiler it also turned off the cold water in the bathtub. Nina said: “I now need to bring all of this water from the kitchen to the bathroom in a really big pot, it’s very heavy. This is our daily wash.”
She added: “Me and my two daughters have long hair, we are struggling to wash [it] and after doing so we are freezing. Imagine having periods and trying to stay a bit clean for months.”
Alperton Councillor, Anton Georgiou said he was “shocked” to hear about the family's situation and the fact that they had been left without heating and hot water for so long “alarming”.
He added: “Nina’s attempts to have this situation resolved by L&Q have fallen on deaf ears, now her daughter’s Christmas wish is to simply have a hot bath. Do L&Q really think that this is acceptable? I really do hope a new boiler will be installed quickly for the family, however it should not take my intervention as councillor or a press story for residents’ concerns to be listened to!”
A spokesperson for L&Q said they are “so sorry for the distress caused” by the delay in fixing the boiler, calling the four visits by contractors to fix the issue “unsuccessful”. They said the repairs are expected to be completed “within the next few days”.
The spokesperson added: “No one should be cold during the autumn and winter period, and we are distressed to hear that the family has been ill. We offered alternative accommodation when it became clear repairs would take longer, but this was turned down. We supplied electric heaters in October and have arranged for more to be delivered yesterday (December 21) upon hearing that these weren’t sufficient.”
An appointment to fit the new boiler has now been scheduled for today (Friday, December 23).
