Imperial Wharf Flat Lacks Sufficient Hot Water
Family say they face choice between washing the dishes or the kids
Emily Rogers, Scarlett (4), Charlie (1) and Emily's partner, Jamie (34).
Picture: Emily Rogers
A mum-of-two living in Imperial Wharf has to choose between bathing her kids or washing the dishes as her flat does not provide enough hot water.
Emily Rogers and her family moved into their flat over a year ago but have never had enough hot water for the family to use. Emily lives with her partner Jamie, 34, and two children Scarlett, four, and Charlie, one.
She said she feels like she is living in a prison because she cannot take a daily shower.
The 32-year-old said, “I don’t have enough hot water to wash my hair and bathe my kids. We have to take turns.”
She said the boiler in their flat, which is owned by housing association A2Dominion, only gives a limited amount of hot water and runs out too quickly.
She added, “It’s quite frustrating. There’s things like if my son needs his nappy changing and I need to bathe him I don’t always have enough hot water to do it.
“It’s just so messed up. I feel almost like I’m in a prison because I can’t be as clean as I would like to be.
“Some days we might have to skip bath day for the kids or we don’t have enough hot water to wash up.
“When my mother-in-law comes to look after the children I shouldn’t have to say she can’t shower if she stays over. It’s just unfair.”
Emily claims she has asked A2Dominion to sort the issue multiple times.
She added: “I’ve complained so many times I have just stopped because I don’t think they’re going to do anything about it. Nobody seems to have any answers when we call up.
“It’s been like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I can’t wash my hands in a pandemic with hot water, that worries me.
“I also have to go around with greasy hair because I physically can’t wash it. And I can’t wash it with cold water especially now it’s winter.”
Emily explained that when they first moved in, some of the plugs seemed to be melting.
She explained, “We could smell a burning smell and I thought maybe it was just dust.
“It wasn’t just that it smelled but it melted the plastic. It was very very hot and it seemed to spark.”
She also says the two-bed flat is too small for four people and the windows are not sealed properly so all the heat escapes, making it very cold in the winter.
She said, “It just isn’t big enough. I wouldn’t mind if I had two boys or two girls but they are going to need their own rooms as they get older.
“I couldn’t stay here I think I would go crazy. My mental health has been really bad since moving here.
“I feel like I have constantly got all these things to worry about. I’d do anything to move out of here.”
A spokesperson for A2Dominion said, “We’ve had a review of the history for this property and found the following regarding Emily’s hot water:
“A member of our repairs team attended the property on 16th Sept 2020 and reset the off peak and on peak thermostat. A new job was raised and on the December 14 we replaced the top and bottom immersion, tested it and advised it was all working well. This was the last thing on the hot water that was raised.
“Regarding complaints, the only one we could find for this property is a complaint about a faulty electric heater in the hallway. This was raised on January 25 and attended first on February 1.
“It then became a complaint on February 9 but was completed on the February 11.
“We would love to work with Emily to fix the issues she’s raised with you and we’d encourage Emily to get in touch with our customer contact centre. She can do this via her account or phoning our support team on 0800 432 0077.
“We also have a number of home transfer schemes available to our customers who want to find a new home. If Emily has any questions, she can also contact our customer contact centre about this.”
Hannah Neary - Local Democracy Reporter
November 8, 2021