AN ANDOVER woman with cerebral palsy has been forced to leave her care accommodation in town after the housing provider left the residents with no central heating for several days.

Claire Hull, 38, who has spastic diplegia on her right-hand side, and two other residents with disabilities were left to survive the cold weekend with temporary electrical fan heaters at their property on Rooksbury Road.

Having seen their daughter struggle with “inadequate” heating at this time of the year, Claire’s parents have now removed her from the property.

Claire’s dad Stephen Hull said he couldn't see his daughter struggle for many days with no central heating.

“Enough is enough,” Stephen, 63, said.

“What we have is three ladies with limited mobility huddled around half a dozen electrical fan heaters trying to keep warm. Because the ladies are disabled in various manners, they need to have the house warmed. So we removed our daughter from the premises on Friday evening to keep her warm.”

The two other residents are continuing at the residence, with just the electrical fan heaters.

The care and accommodation of the residents are provided by disability charity Royal Mencap and their housing partners Golden Lane Housing.

Stephen said Claire and other residents have been complaining about the failing central heating for the past five years.

“This year Golden Lane Housing promised that they would fix it in the second half of the year,” Stephen said.

“They chose the week before the coldest weekend of the year to start that work. On Friday, I’m told, the plumber walked out without completing the works, and left the residents and carers with lukewarm hot water and a lukewarm central heating system. But, in reality, the central heating system was non-existent, and the lukewarm water was tepid.

“This property can accommodate five residents. Each one of them pays over £2,000 every four weeks. [With full capacity] They are getting £10,000 every four weeks, or £130,000 a year in rent. Yet they are willing to walk away from them on a weekend with no heating.”

Andover Advertiser: Claire wrapped in a blanket at the supported accommodationClaire wrapped in a blanket at the supported accommodation

Stephen is now waiting for Golden Lane Housing to complete the works before sending his daughter back to the property.

When the Advertiser contacted Royal Mencap for a comment, they referred us to their partners Golden Lane Housing.

Rod Dugher, Director of Housing for Golden Lane Housing, said: “Golden Lane Housing are the landlord to the tenants. We aim to always deliver an excellent repairs service to all our tenants and we are really sorry that the failure of the heating system has caused distress to our tenants.

“We have provided temporary heating but appreciate at this time of year this has not been an ideal situation for our tenants for which we apologise. We will urgently ensure whatever works are required are undertaken and the tenants have a properly functioning system and warm home.

“We are really sorry for the delay and are committed to achieving as quick a resolution as we are able to. We’ll do whatever it takes to make sure our tenants are warm and safe.”

A spokesperson for Hampshire County Council said: “The County Council recently became aware that there have been issues with the heating at the accommodation and are sorry that this appears to be an ongoing problem.

"We are actively working with the housing association and resident support organisations to get these rectified as quickly as possible. We understand that a temporary fix has been provided to ensure sufficient heating is available in the short term, pending a long-term solution being put in place.”