Ceiling a hole lot of trouble

Oct 19 2008 by Mr Justice, Sunday Sun

THERE’S a hole in the ceiling, dear Carly, dear Carly, there’s a hole in the ceiling, dear Carly, a hole.

Then fix it, dear Carly, dear Carly . . . then fix it!

Apologies for messing with the well- known children’s song but I simply could not ignore the temptation.

Carly Sutherland is associate director for residential properties at the Newcastle branch of consultants Sanderson Weatherall.

The company manage the communal areas of leasehold flats at Spennymoor, County Durham. And it was there that the 60cm (2ft) by 1.2m (4ft) hole appeared in the ceiling.

Landlady Irene Irving, who rents out one of the flats, told me: “In April my tenant rang to say some of the landing ceiling had fallen in, rain was coming through and the carpet was soaked. There had been previous leaks so I rang Sanderson Weatherall to find out what was happening.”

Irene was variously told that they were waiting for an insurance claim or that the builder was busy. On occasions her voicemail messages were not returned.

She said: “I am worried it will get worse and pose a danger to my tenants. The problem could spread into the flats and cause major damage.”

That’s when I spoke to Carly at Sanderson Weatherall. She said: “I will look into it but the first problem is the person dealing with it is on holiday.”

And the second problem? Carly did not return my multiple messages in the weeks that followed. But I knew action had been taken when Irene told me a meeting had been arranged with a Sanderson Weatherall representative.

She said: “I was pleased it was raining when he came because he could see for himself the extent of the problem.”

Arrangements were made to carry out repair work following the meeting. When I finally spoke to Carly a second time she told me: “We have carried out work previously but unfortunately it has continued to leak.

“There was a delay when we asked our insurance company to look into it, but they declined the claim. More work will be carried out and hopefully it will be sorted.”

She said that for a while there was insufficient money in the maintenance fund for the building which tenants pay into.

The work was carried out as soon as the pot was topped up.

Workers later turned up to fix the ceiling and Irene, of Belmont, Durham, is now hoping that’s the end of the saga.

Unless there’s a hole in the bucket.