A LET-DOWN resident has urged the company that looks after his building for action after 'failing its tenants'.
Former mental health nurse Andy Smith, who lives at Mayer House in Chatham Place, Reading, said that housing association company Peabody has fallen short on several complaints from its inhabitants.
Mr Smith, who is registered blind, said the most recent issue left him without a working toilet for days during the May bank holiday weekend.
"I had a frank conversation with Peabody over the phone and the woman admitted that the drainage system in Mayer House wasn't up to standard," he said.
"A guy down the corridor from me got flooded with sewage last Friday, so it's obviously still having an effect."
Mr Smith claims that there have been multiple occasions where toilets in the building have flooded with sewage.
After the same thing happened to Mr Smith’s bathroom earlier this month, the company that dealt with the former blockages called him and said that Peabody had reportedly stopped them from flushing the main pipes since they gained ownership of the property.
The resident claims it is due to limescale that has not been removed from the pipes, leaving two flats empty and others at risk of blockages.
"They're beyond the pale really. My toilet was flushing once a day but then over the bank holiday weekend it stopped working completely," Mr Smith said.
Mr Smith, who is registered blind, said that he was left without a working toilet for three days and there was no emergency process to get anything done about it.
"It's just getting so frustrating. Their lack of action is just remarkable, my next step is to re-email the local councillors about all these problems."
Mr Smith previously said that Peabody also hasn’t been understanding about his disability, and even refused to send him his letters in a larger print.
The tenant also claims the housing group 'took a very long time' to install special lights to help Mr Smith’s sight. It took them 10 months to fit lighting that would help his quality of life.
"The fact that they haven't maintained the pipes in the flats is just awful. I can't see them changing without any consequences," he said.
"Nothing ever gets done. They are consistently crap, it's remarkable. To be blind and not having a working toilet is just too stressful."
A spokesperson for Peabody said: “We’re really sorry for the issues Mr Smith has been having and we’re working hard to resolve them as soon as possible.”
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