A 69-year-old pensioner has travelled across the Pennines to stage his second protest outside the headquarters of Shipley-based Accent Housing.
Armed with a megaphone, disgruntled homeowner Peter Brown drove over 30 miles from Oldham to protest at Charlestown House.
Mr Brown said home owners and tenants feel “sick and tired” over ongoing issues with the maintenance agreement on Accent Housing’s retirement homes in Royton.
Among his complaints was a two year long wait to fix his roof’s facias and soffits as well as a demand for £340 in additional maintenance payments.
“They do not do the job,” he could be heard shouting on October 13.
Mr Brown’s first protest in March saw him raise complaints about rats and “bodge job repairs”.
Explaining why he decided to protest once again, Mr Brown said: “It’s a protest for all the people who this housing association are responsible for, for the maintenance of people’s homes.
“We pay them to do a maintenance programme on our homes. They’ve changed the goalposts, they change what ruling suits them.
“But for homeowners to pay thousands and thousands of pounds for their own homes to be treated in this despicable manner, and for me to have rats which took two years and a protest to bring to light what these people keep neglecting, brushing you aside."
He added: “I’m sick and tired of this.
“I gave £130,000 for that home. You’re saying that you’re responsible for the maintenance and you’ve done anything but.”
In response, a spokesperson for Accent Housing said: “We are sad to learn about, and apologise for the fact Mr Brown felt he needed to leave his home and travel to our office to discuss the issues reported to you.
“As a freehold homeowner, Mr Brown is presently in a unique position whereby, under his current ‘Transfer’, we provide some chargeable external repairs and maintenance services to his home. This arrangement is something we are actively reviewing with residents of this scheme.
“In April, we acknowledged we had not delivered the required standard of maintenance concerning his facias, soffits and guttering and so, after a full review and as a gesture of goodwill, we contributed towards the repair costs.
“Senior leaders and a dedicated homeownership specialist have visited Mr Brown’s home on several occasions and continue to work with him to action outstanding issues.
“We remain committed to Mr Brown and all our residents to provide high-quality services and, as such, plans are already in place to review the problems raised.
“Our surveyor will inspect the work to ensure it has been delivered to a high standard.
“To ensure swift and appropriate action is put in place, we closely follow our complaints procedure. The stages of our complaints process are designed to treat all customers equally and fairly.”
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