Mother and children without hot water or heating after being sent back to flood damaged home

A young mother and her two childen were moved back into a flat without hot water, heating or a bed for the mother to sleep on, after a flood forced them to live in temporary accommodation for over ten months.

Nicole Odafe, 33, and her two children, aged 10 and six, had to evacuate their housing association flat in Greenwich last November when a pipe burst, flooding the apartment with hot water.

The water damaged a number of their belongings and they were moved into an emergency hotel for two weeks before being put in a temporary flat.

However, they were moved back into the old flat last week at the insistence of the housing association – despite there being no heating or hot water in the apartment, and no bed frame for Ms Odafe’s mattress.

When The Independent went to see their home, the family were using a bucket in the bath to put boiled water in so they could wash. Ms Odafe was also putting her mattress in the kitchen every night to sleep, as her room was full of the family’s boxes and belongings.

Ms Odafe pays around £900 a month to rent the flat and had to continue to pay the full amount when the family were living in temporary accommodation, she said. She had been paid £730 by the housing association to buy a new bed frame but she said she had not received any additional funds to compensate her for the time away from their home or for the other damaged belongings.

She explained: “I am trying to be strong for myself and for my kids, but I am beyond tired and have crippling anxiety. My son has not been doing well in school and he has low self-esteem. My daughter is trying to put on a brave face, but there is a lot going on in her head.

“I’m now on medication for my mental health and my church has paid for me to have therapy. I’ve not got a place for me to lay my head on. It is liveable in the flat but there is nothing.”

Describing the November flood, she said: “The level of the water was so high, above your ankle, and the steam was hot because it was 80c hot water that burst out of the pipe and triggered the sprinkler. I was in the bathroom when it occurred. There were a lot of private contractors around at the time because they had been doing works outside my flat.

“I’m not sure what they were doing but the pipe burst and the place started to flood. A number of guys rushed into my flat to try and rescue my things. They’ve repainted the flat and redone the flooring now but still a lot of my things were beyond repair and thrown away.”

The Housing Association organised for the majority of the flat’s flooring to be replaced, but when Ms Odafe was moved back into the flat, she found that repair workers had left it in a bad state, with the bathroom particularly dirty.

“They packed all my things in my bedroom. They’ve not put things back where it was, they’ve not cleaned up the place,” Ms Odafe said.

After being approached by The Independent, the housing association Moat said they were “truly sorry”, adding: “We’ll be providing compensation to acknowledge our failures and will also thoroughly review our procedures to ensure no other family faces a similar situation”.

Contractors have also come to fix the hot water in the flat, and the heating has been partially fixed.

A Moat spokesperson added: “We are sorry for the distress and inconvenience this situation has caused to our customer and their family. We fully understand how disruptive and stressful this has been for the family’s daily life. Our service fell well below the standards they should expect from us, and for this, we are truly sorry.

“We can confirm that all the repairs have now been completed and we will maintain regular contact with the family.”