The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A BENEFICIARY of the Urban Renewal Small Homes Repair programme claimed a contractor failed to complete repairs to his house, which now has a collapsing, leaking roof.

Robert Thompson, 86, said he and his wife cannot entertain relatives or sleep in their bedroom because their house in the Kool Acres community is unsafe.

The Urban Renewal’s small home repair programme responds to hundreds of homeowners who are struggling and in need of home restoration.

Officials said in September that nearly 200 homes had received repairs since the programme’s launch.

Mr Thompson owned a tour company before the COVID-19 pandemic and said he applied to Urban Renewal for help last May after falling on hard times.

He said the process was tiresome because it took over a year to hear back from the organisation.

“The main issue was the roof,” he said of his housing problem, “and there were other things inside the house that was cracked and stuff like that, and some of it was from the age of the house.”

Mr Thompson said he and his wife had high hopes after workers finally started work on their home in May.

But as work progressed, the couple became agitated by how the contractor performed.

Mr Thompson said workers left the house messy and would sometimes not show up when expected.

He said he and his wife endured rain leaking through the roof one weekend after contractors removed shingles.

“The tarp they put on it didn’t completely cover the roof,” he said. “It didn’t leak where the tarp covered, but on the sides, where they hold it down with rocks and cans and everything so the wind don’t blow it, all of that side leaked.”

The couple said not only is the work unfinished, but they also haven’t seen the workers since one tried getting them to sign a paper declaring the job finished.

“I mean, the whole of the inside of my home is wrecked, and every time it rains, my wife got to put eight and ten bottles on the side to catch the water and cans, and my wife just had a cancer operation,” Mr Thompson said. “We can’t walk around in the house because the roof keeps falling down on things, and a big slab fall the other day, and if my wife was home because she’s only five foot two, it would’ve killed her.”

The resident said they failed to reach Urban Renewal officials with their complaints.

Stephen Dean, chairman of the Urban Renewal Commission, pledged to investigate the matter.

He said Urban Renewal repaired Mr Thompson’s roof.

However, he said sometimes homes needing repair require additional work beyond a contractor’s scope.

“For the most part, the contractors have been doing a good job,” he told The Tribune. “That’s why we have inspectors because the home has to be signed off first by the homeowner and the contractor. If there is any legitimate concern, it’ll be addressed.”