A Dulwich pensioner, 84, claims he hasn’t had working heating in his living area for over two years and has to sit with a blanket over him every day in a room full of condensation.
John Spencer has lived in the same three-bedroom flat on Overhill Road for 40 years – but in recent years he has not been able to heat the house properly.
He claims the issue stems back to October 2021, when a mains pipe blockage led to his home being continuously flooded by waste from all fifteen flats above.
Mark Spencer, John’s son, who had first discovered the flooding, said: “Everything was damaged in the property so they had to rewire the whole house.”
Before the flood, which ended up lasting for weeks, John had gas heating, which he said ‘wasn’t perfect but it did the job.’
“So after the flood,” Mark said, “we were told central heating would be too expensive to put in. So they put electric heaters in – but the trouble is, this one is not connected properly so it doesn’t work.”
Mark commented that even if it was connected properly the wattage is not high enough, so it does not heat the room – which is a large open-plan living area with no doors separating it.
He said he has been contacting Southern Housing – who owns the property – ever since but claims all they’ve done is send out a surveyor once who checked the heater and said it is ‘fine.’
“We got a response this summer from them saying ‘It’s summer you don’t need heating now’ but it has been a problem for over two years.”
John said: “They also gave us a small plug-in heater [pictured] which could never heat a room of this size.”
The 84-year-old widower, who has heart problems, told us: “I have to sit with a blanket over me every day and I had to buy a temporary heater to put by my legs.
“It’s so cold.”
The effect of not being able to heat the room also means it’s damp. “The ceiling and the windows are always wet.”
Mark added that he is concerned about his dad’s health.
Since we got in touch with Southern Housing for comment they said they will replace the heaters in John’s house.
A spokesperson from Southern Housing said: “Although Mr Spencer has had heating in his home, we’re sorry he’s been unhappy with the warmth this has provided.
“Our contractor is visiting Mr Spencer on Friday (22 December) to upgrade his heaters and we’re confident these will provide more warmth in his home.
“The current heaters were installed around two years ago, but we’ve spoken to Mr Spencer who feels they’re insufficient for the size of his home and so we’ve agreed to replace these.
“We’ve delivered two portable heaters to Mr Spencer while he awaits the completion of this work, to ensure he remains comfortable if the weather gets colder.
“Our team remain committed to getting this issue resolved and supporting Mr Spencer during and after this job is completed.”