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Sunday, October 6, 2024
A protest with London Renters Union's Tower Hamlets branch took place outside Poplar HARCA offices on Tuesday (September 10) © Facundo
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Protest held outside Poplar HARCA offices due to injury caused to pensioner in her home

An East London pensioner says she is still traumatised after her radiator pipe burst and flooded her home with hot water earlier this year in March

An East London pensioner says she is still traumatised after her radiator pipe burst and flooded her home with hot water earlier this year, as neighbours came out to protest at the lack of action to fix the issue months later.

Joyce Hunte, who lives in Tower Hamlets, claims she did not sleep for three days as she was left to collect hot water in bowls the whole time in a desperate attempt to stop her flat from flooding any further and causing any more damage. She got no help from her landlord for days, she claims.

On the second day of the incident in March, the 70-year-old says she fell over because of the flooding and later had to go to hospital for an X-ray. Hunte told her landlord and housing association Poplar HARCA that her hot water pipe had burst multiple times and was told a contractor would be coming out, however, no one turned up to her flat until the third day after Hunte’s son intervened.

A protest was held this week because the issue has still not been properly resolved six months later. A spokesperson for the housing association said they had since been to Hunte’s home following the protest to listen to her concerns and have agreed on the repairs that need to be carried out in her home. Hunte, who lives on her own, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): ‘If it was somebody else more vulnerable, a more elderly person, they could have died in the house having no one to help and support them.

‘My son has never seen me cry, I had to call him, crying and breaking down on the phone for him to rush around in the traffic to try and help and support me and take the buckets of water out after having no sleep for three days.’ She went on to say she felt ‘flogged off’ by Poplar HARCA and said she wasn’t taken seriously.

Hunte said: ‘I didn’t have any support and any help, that was very, very traumatising for me. I’m still traumatised, I still have this bone sticking out my knee. The doctors had to send me to my hospital for an X-ray but I’m still traumatised. It wasn’t a very good experience for a pensioner.’

On Tuesday afternoon (September 10), Hunte was joined by members from the London Renters Union’s (LRU) Tower Hamlets branch as they protested outside Poplar HARCA’s head offices. LRU members have demanded Poplar HARCA apologise to Hunte and immediately replace her flooring after it was damaged by the flooding which they say is now uneven and unsafe.

poplar harca protest, pensioner
Pensioner Joyce Hunte waited for three days before a Poplar HARCA contractor was sent out to fix a broken hot water pipe in her radiator © Ruby Gregory

They have also demanded Hunte be awarded compensation and a review be carried out to properly investigate the events that unfolded. Sian Smith, communications lead at Tower Hamlets LRU, said: ‘It’s disgraceful that our member Joyce was left injured and exhausted after Poplar HARCA failed to deal with her boiling hot broken pipe for days.

‘Poplar HARCA has now committed to replacing Joyce’s flooring and to looking again at the incident, but it shouldn’t take a public protest to get a housing association to do the right thing.’ Smith added: ‘Every tenant deserves a decent, safe home but many instead find it’s like talking to a brick wall when they report urgent issues or ask their landlord to make repairs.

‘Joyce deserves compensation and a full apology for the distress that she was put through by Poplar HARCA. We hope lessons will be learnt so no other Poplar HARCA tenants are put through this.’ During the protest, Hunte and an LRU member met with Poplar HARCA and staff visited her home the next day, on September 11.

Speaking to the LDRS just after she met with Poplar HARCA, Ms Hunte, who has been an LRU member for five years, said: ‘I’m feeling great, I feel our campaign has done something. It’s opening their eyes to some of the issues – they’re failing their tenants. It will also make them aware that some elderly people can be very vulnerable if they haven’t got any support or assistance at home.’

A spokesperson for Poplar HARCA said: ‘We’ve met with Joyce and visited her at home to talk about her concerns. We’ve together agreed next steps and will carry out various repairs to her home. We’re also reviewing Joyce’s initial complaint at stage 2 of our complaints process.’

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