Council house next door getting work done

[glitterytrainers]

I have owned my current house for about 27 years - ex council house but we bought it privately. Vast majority of the houses in the street now privately owned and sold on a lot of times. Anyway, my last neighbour sold her house back to the Council - no issues with this - lovely neighbour, get on well, no issues. Anyway the Council are doing refurbishment works to the outside of the unbought houses - about 3 in a street of 43. Anyway, they have done new pvc cladding, roofing etc. Looks great. Unfortunately they have caused damaged to one of my upper dormer roofs. I have complained three times to the Council and three times to the contractors - both personally and by phone. They have now completed their latest attempt to resolve this - it is a complete mess - I couldn't believe how bad it looked - the roof was perfectly intact before and now looks a complete mess. Also, they asked if they could remove the chimney - no issues - but they have completely botched this also. I am sick of complaining, to the site manager and workers in person and also to the contractor and Council - any suggestions - to put it politely they have made a right arse of things and I think when I come to sell it would reduce the value. I have taken a picture and sent it to the Council. Do I go down the legal right (fortunately work as a paralegal) or do I keep going on at them. As it is I think water will start coming in giving it is coming in to the winter. Any help appreciated.

Warn that you will take action within 7 days if they do not give you a resolution to your problem. And then do so.
You can’t leave your home vulnerable to the elements over winter.

I would ask a builder to have a look, note down what damage has been done, what repairs are needed and how much it will cost - then ask the council to resolve the issue or give you the money to pay to get it resolved yourself.

Does your local/county radio have a Consumer Rights program? Ours is great at getting things sorted

Contact your local councillor. This sort of administrative cock up is their forte to cut through and resolve.

Have you spoken to your insurer? Maybe they'd be able to advise, or provide a more authoritative opinion the council might find more persuasive. If your roof is left in an unsatisfactory condition then you could have trouble claiming on your own insurance e.g. if you later have a leak as a consequence of this.

Write to your local councillor, the chief executive of the council and your MP.
I work in a local authority and any of these things will always make officers sit up and take notice.
Yes , might also be worth looking into legal remedies and I would do that alongside your complaints.

Make a formal complaint and keep escalating it until you get the damage sorted out. If it is the council, as opposed to a Housing Association then call your local councillor and ask them to come and see the damage.

Definitely the legal route. Anything else is too easy to ignore/lose the paperwork for/deny all knowledge of.

Loads of good suggestions here. I'd add letting your local newspaper know.

IME councils and HAs get the lowest price possible for work and then don't give a flying fuck once it's "done".
You can complain til you're blue in the face but nothing will be done.
You could try sad face in the local paper, or your MP ( especially if the council and MP are on opposite sides politically) but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to be fixed. It's not likely.

Contact your home insurer and let their legal team deal with it. They will fix the issues and then recoup their losses from the council and it wouldn’t class as a claim on your policy if the council eventually admit liability and your insurers reimbursed.
If your home is susceptible to the elements and not in a good state of repair (due to the contractors) your insurance could potentially be invalidated in the event of ANY claim. I’ve seen home insurance claims for eg:theft of contents be declined because of damage not declared to a floor. Even though the two events were in no way related.

Have you involved your local councillor to advocate for you?

Escalate it. You've had good advice upthread. If need be, warn them and then small claims. You don't have much choice.

Get hold of their resident liaison officer and also get your councillor/MP involved.

I've been an rlo and worked with councils on social housing. They always sort stuff asap once a councillor/MP gets on their case.

Agree with contacting your MP/Councillor. The council fitted a new kitchen/bathroom in my flat and bodged it (leaking kitchen sink, hole in my kitchen wall, extractor fan not working, door not replaced etc.) I contacted the site foreman and the council for months with no work done, contacted my councillor and it was all fixed within a fortnight and he phoned me to make sure I was happy.

If there is any way for you to get times/dates of any calls/emails etc than that would be helpful, also take loads of photos.

Take photographs of the damage, put your complaint in writing to the people as advised above and then you'll have some action.