Laura Amissah first reported a leak from her upstairs neighbour’s flat in January this year, reports Josh Mellor, Local Democracy Reporter

Leaks above the boiler in the Leytonstone flat — Leaks above the boiler in Laura’s Leytonstone flat

A housing association says it is “very sorry” for failing to fix a leak which has been damaging a family’s Leytonstone property for five months.

Laura Amissah, who has a leasehold flat in an L&Q-owned building in Leytonstone, first reported a leak from her upstairs neighbour’s flat in January this year.

Despite the housing association promising to fix the leak more than a month ago, Laura says the leak is now running through the floorboards to the lower floor of her maisonette.

Laura told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that L&Q staff appeared to be “ignoring” her calls for help about the “distressing” situation.

On Friday, 19th May a spokesperson for the housing association admitted that stopping the leak “should not have taken this long” and claimed it had sent a team to deal with the problem.

David Lewis, executive group director of property services at L&Q, said: “We are very sorry for the difficulties Ms Amissah has experienced with her home.

Leaking water collects in a bath — Leaking water collected in a bath

“This is not the standard of service L&Q residents should expect and we will support Ms Amissah through this entire process.”

However, Laura said the leak is “getting worse and worse,” with the water creating hazards by running over her boiler and electric plug sockets. She estimates that, over 18 hours, she has collected about 24 pints of water which would otherwise have flooded her home.

Laura told the LDRS that a plumbing team from L&Q was not due to come back until today (Thursday 25th). She said: “It began as frustration but it has got quite scary – everything we have has been ploughed into this place.

“When they don’t respond to you [… ] you start thinking and it starts feeling unimaginable that it could be possibly fixed.

“It’s so distressing […] sometimes I come home and see the leak and am frustrated and other times I sit in the bedroom watching it rain down and it’s so upsetting.”

Laura said that her local councillors have been “great” in supporting her but they have also struggled to get a response from the housing association.

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