A TAVISTOCK woman is ‘disgusted’ by the customer service she has received from a housing association after her ceiling collapsed during the night.

Sara Litchfield, of Bucktor Park, Tavistock is at her wits end with trying to get repairs completed on her home owned by housing association, LiveWest.

This comes as earlier this month Sara reported a leak in her kitchen that she explained was in need of urgent repair, but wasn’t prioritised, eventually resulting in her ceiling collapsing.

Sara said: “I reported my leak on July 7 and the job was booked in by LiveWest for July 18 despite me explaining that there was water leaking.

“Then on July 15 at 11.30pm my ceiling collapsed.”

Sara expressed her frustration with the poor communication she has experienced between the LiveWest customer service team and the technicians that visit homes to conduct repairs.

“There were no handover notes given of the extent of the damage so when the LiveWest workman came on July 18 to look at the ceiling, he could not carry out the work as he wasn’t informed about the damage, except for a leak,” said Sara.

“When he arrived he said he was overwhelmed and couldn’t do the work. Also, the electrician that came to take a look said the leak was millimetres from my electrics.

“It should’ve been prioritised.”

Sara, who lives with her son, explained that the leak is not the only repair that is needed in the house and that other areas of the house urgently need repairs, including damp in her son’s bedroom. Sara who feels overlooked by the housing association said: “Over the winter my son got bronchitis and I know it’s from the damp.

“When I told LiveWest about the damp they came and sprayed cheap mould spray and I was just told to leave my windows open.”

Sara said she wanted to buy her property so that she would be able to hire her own tradespeople to complete the work to her satisfaction.

“It’s absolutely disgusting. I’m fed up and I’m really down about it all,” she said. “I want them to let me buy my property so that I can get my own independent workmen in.

“The workmen they send are coming in the dark and the bare minimum is being done. I don’t want LiveWest repairing my home.”

Liane Sheppard, director of property services at LiveWest, said: “We are very sorry about the problems Ms Litchfield has been experiencing and we understand the disruption this has caused.

“We attended an out of hours call on July 17, and our team made a temporary fix for the leak in the bathroom as well as removing some of the ceiling in the kitchen, to make safe. Our surveyor visited the property again on July 25 and undertook a joint visit with Ms Litchfield’s surveyor. Works to resolve any damp that our customer is experiencing have been agreed.

“Our team have also completed the roofing repairs. We are waiting on the results from an additional survey before we can complete all works to the ceiling and bathroom. These will be booked in as soon as possible.”