A Bristol man is "living through hell" after his ceiling started leaking again several months after it first collapsed. In October 2021, the ceiling in Jerry Daly's Cotham flat collapsed after consistently leaking, and he accused his landlords Curo of failing to fix the problem.
The 57-year-old says that his ceiling is now leaking again, and his sister told Bristol Live that he is 'living through hell'. Jerry has aphasia, a condition which makes it difficult to speak as the result of a stroke, and so his sister Sally spoke on his behalf.
She said: "He's been there 27 years. My heart is hurting for him, he's living through hell." Curo apologised to Jerry for the delays in fixing the problem when the ceiling last collapsed, and said restrictions around working in residents' homes because of Covid-19 also made it difficult for them to fix the problem.
Read more: Man left in 'distress' after dealing with collapsed ceiling and noisy neighbours in Bristol flat
The housing association told Bristol Live the latest issue is unrelated to the earlier collapse, and a tap being left on in an upstairs kitchen was identified as the cause of the leak. It has apologised for any distress caused and said it is also exploring soundproofing options, after concerns were also raised about noise from a neighbouring flat.
But Sally says she feels that their actions have not been good enough. Last year the ceiling leaked nine times in a six-month period, according to Jerry, and this is the first time it has happened again since Curo repaired it.
Sally says that Jerry has also had to deal with neighbours making lots of noise, which has been reported to Curo on multiple occasions. A letter written to Curo in October by Jerry's support worker at a mental health charity said there was "continual" noise between 7am and 1am each day from an upstairs flat, which caused him "daily distress".
And Sally says her suggestion of soundproofing the ceiling has not been taken on board by Curo, although the housing association told Bristol Live this is being considered. She says the noise has led him to rely on medication for his low mood, while he spends most of his time outdoors.
Sally said: "You get horrible feelings when you have got to go back and face it, I just don't understand why they can't do (anything). I'm so worried he's going to have a stroke, it must be horrible for him because he's got no voice, he can't speak for himself. I just wish they would do something for him, his life is hell."
After his ceiling collapsed in October, it was left unfixed for 18 days according to Jerry, and in this time he was exposed to what appeared to be mould on the ceiling. Curo said at the time that they couldn’t fix the ceiling immediately because it had to be allowed to dry out.
Curo's full response
A Curo spokesperson said of the latest concerns: "We’re sorry for the distress this has caused Mr Daly. We visited Mr Daly’s home as an emergency call-out and found that the source of the water was a tap being left on in the upstairs kitchen.
"This was an unfortunate accident and wasn’t related to a previous leak which we had already repaired. Mr Daly’s home is a ground floor flat in a converted Victorian building and this makes soundproofing technically challenging.
"We’re working with a soundproofing specialist to look at ways we can reduce noise from upstairs. We want to do all we reasonably can to reduce noise disturbance and we’re exploring all soundproofing options, as well as talking to Mr Daly’s neighbours.
"We want Mr Daly to enjoy living in his home – our social tenancies are for life and we make every effort to help residents stay in their homes for as long as they want to."
