A Leicestershire family claims their lives are in danger over a wet and leaking roof which “could fall down” at any moment. Jolanta Rudnicka and her husband Dariusz’s flat is also suffering from mould, adding to their concerns.
Mr and Mrs Rudnicka own the flat in Enderby’s Queens Drive, however, the roof and loft belong to landlord East Midlands Housing Association (EMH). The family claim that not only do they have the problem with the leaking roof, the ceiling is now collapsing.
Mrs Rudnicka told LeicestershireLive: “This is endangering our lives because at any moment the ceiling could fall down because it is all wet.”
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The family has said because of the water leaking through holes in the roof, the walls in their home have become cracked and water is now seeping through the cracks. Since December 2023, they claim to have written to EMH every few weeks to report the issue – copies of which have been seen by LeicestershireLive.
However, the problem has yet to be resolved as Mrs Rudnicka claimed that in response EMH said the letters had been passed on to another department. This is then followed by silence from the company.
An inspection from a company sent out by EMH reportedly found that the roof needed “to be replaced and the ceiling beams that are in the attic could collapse because they are constantly wet and rotten.” An inspection by EMH’s own teams followed, but Mrs Rudnicka was told the repairs could not be undertaken “because it was too expensive”.
Letters seen by LeicestershireLive show Mrs Rudnicka first wrote to EMH in December 2023, explaining that the roof was leaking and there were water stains in the bedroom. She sent pictures of the damage and explained the bedroom walls were cracking due to a leaking roof.
Mr and Mrs Rudnicka own the flat but the roof and loft is owned by East Midlands Housing
On Tuesday, January 2, 2024, the family received a reply back from EMH saying they had passed the request on to the property services team. After being contacted to say EMH would be visting on Friday, February 9, Mrs Rudnika wrote to EMH to say she had waited in all day, but no-one turned up.
In the email, the 38-year-old said to EMH: “The roof is leaking again, causing significant damage to our flat’s interior. Water leaks through the ceiling, saturating the walls. This constant dampness has caused mould to grow and rot on the walls, leaving a musty smell in the affected areas.
In March, Mrs Rudnicka emailed EMH to express the family’s “deep disatisfaction” She said “The roof in our flat has been leaking for four months, causing water damage to the walls and ceiling. As a result, there is now a significant amount of mould growing on the walls in the bedroom, which is now a significant health hazard.”
She added “despite numerous emails, no action has been taken to address the issue.” She asked for immediate action to address the issue. Further letters dated May, July and September were shown to LeicestershireLive.
In response, Ian Davies, group director of property at EMH said: “We are sorry for the delays in repairing Ms Rudnicka‘s roof. Having carried out several repairs, we recognise that this is a persistent issue that has started to cause mould. The mould has been treated, and we will be providing additional treatments again next week where necessary.
“We’ve been in regular contact with Ms Rudnicka throughout the process and have offered support including providing dehumidifiers. Our supervisor attended Ms Rudnicka’s home on Friday, January 3 to re-inspect the roof and a further inspection is taking place [on Tuesday, January 7]. Our teams will then start repair works on Thursday [January 9].”
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