Urine coming through my ceiling

[frustratedashell]

I'm at my wits end. I have a housing association flat, owned and rented out to me by Clarion Housing. The block of flats has two floors. I live on the lower floor.

The flat above me was occupied by a man, who I think was probably an alcoholic.
Apparently he was peeing into bottles and standing them on the floor. They then fell over and leaked through into my flat.

I was unaware of this situation until the emergency services forced entry into his flat and took him to either a care home or hospital. He died a few weeks later. The flat is now empty.

The small yellow mark on my ceiling in the bathroom got bigger and bigger. Then I got a new patch on the hallway ceiling. I reported the problems to Clarion sometime in November 2022. They booked an appointment to come and look at /fix the ceiling.

Unfortunately the appointment was booked for the day after we had quite a bit of snow(12th December) so understandably they didn't turn up.

Meanwhile another appointment was booked for 9th January, at which time they said they would replaster the ceiling. The urine was now collecting in my bathroom basin and pooling on the floor on some days. I suspect that the rain is flushing the urine through as I have a leak nearby anyway.

Trying to contact them ( you are number 90 in the queue! ) is very difficult, as is trying to get them to understand that they need to go into the flat above me to sort out the leak before repairing the damage. I've wasted hours on Internet chat trying to get them to help me.

I've now reported this to the environmental health people, have contacted my MP and made a formal complaint to Clarion. This is a health risk! I can't get them to get their finger out and sort it out! I'm beyond frustrated and furious.

This in the UK in 2023 not the 1800s or a third world country!

He's a campaigner for improvements in social housing. He had his own fight with Clarion over infestations in his family's home. He might be able to amplify your voice.

Ah right, thank you

Update. I've discovered the cause of the leak. Outside brickwork of the flat above me is letting in rain due to cement breaking down. Unbelievably I've now got another leak, from the same flat . The hot water tank has corroded and is leaking. Had water coming through the kitchen ceiling and going into my strip light as well as 2 other places. Plumber and electrician have been out and made it safe and emptied the tank.

That's so absolutely disgusting that you've been left in that situation for two months. That's surely a health problem, to have someone else's urine dripping into your house.
I really hope that you get it sorted properly and it's all made good as soon as possible.

MarshaMelrose sorry I didn't say, it wasn't urine after all. But still not a good situation

Thank fuck for that! Was too grim to imagine.

Well, I'm very, very relieved about that. It was really beyond the pale to expect you to live like that. But having liquid of any kind coming through your ceiling is dreadful.

I remember a plumber refitting my bathroom and he fitted a cloakroom basin instead of a proper bathroom basin. I wasn't happy, I was only in my early 20s and a bit scared yo complain. I told my mum. She said to me, if the plumber had done that in his own house, would his wife be happy or would she say, no Jack, that won't do. You need to change it?
That made such good sense to me and I rangbup and complained. Why should I have worse service than his wife?
And I think here, if the CEO of Clarion's wife had unidentifiable liquid, possibly urine, dripping through her ceiling, wouldn't she say to husband, you need to get someone round today because I'm not prepared to put up with this.
Why should you, who pay, get poorer service than his wife would? It makes me mad.

Thanks Marsha, you make a good point. It has been very stressful and frustrating. I seem to be getting action taken now. I'm self employed so having to stay home to be there to let workmen in is losing me income. I've put in a claim for loss of earnings and I've said I want them to redecorate when it's all fixed .
I'm being like a dog with a bone! I'm not letting them ride roughshod over me.

Good for you, frustrated. They rely on people just giving up and giving in. You get every penny you can out of them. If they can't run their business properly, they shouldn't be running one at all. Good luck.

Thanks Marsha x