A Banbury family that has been left without heating and hot water for almost three months have spoken out about the strain it has put on their lives.

Richard Skinner and Dawn Plester first reported an issue with low water pressure at their maisonette on Bretch Hill to Sanctuary Housing in August.

A month later, the couple’s home was left without hot water or heating entirely, forcing them and their two adult-aged children they live with, to boil kettles to fill baths to wash.

Dawn said: “On August 25, I reported to Sanctuary that we were having issues with water pressure and struggling to get hot water.

A Banbury couple who have been left without hot water and heating for almost three months have spoken about the strain it has put on their lives.

placeholder image — A Banbury couple who have been left without hot water and heating for almost three months have spoken about the strain it has put on their lives.

“At first we thought it was an issue with the boiler, but the gasman looked at it and said we needed a plumber. Since then, we have had nothing but gasman, plumber and gasman come round to look at it, but nothing helps.”

Richard and Dawn say they have had countless phone calls with the Sanctuary Housing team, but nothing they do seems to help the situation.

The couple were left to contact Thames Water themselves, who came and told them there was a significant water leak underneath their maisonette.

Due to the location of the leak, Thames Water informed them that the problem was the housing association's responsibility, and they were unable to do anything.

Dawn said: “Essentially, we are getting 20 per cent of the water that we are supposed to be getting, and we are still paying a monthly water bill of over £90 because of all the water being lost.

Richard added: “When we told Sanctuary about this, they sent several workmen to us, but none of them were able to fix it, and we still have no heating or hot water.

“They then told us that water leak specialists would be in touch to arrange a visit, but they still haven’t rung back over a week later.”

Dawn said: “They are supposed to be sending someone around to figure out where the leak is coming from, but they have still not sent anybody, and are not keeping us informed about anything.”

The couple describe how if they want to wash, they need to boil water using their kettle and then carry their washing-up bowl full of hot water to their bathroom.

Dawn said: “We have never argued as much since the heating and hot water have been down, it’s put a massive strain on our lives.

“There are four adults in this house, and we all have full-time customer-facing jobs, and it’s not acceptable to have to wait two hours to fill a bath for one person.

“We feel unhygienic, cold and just generally fed up and really want this fixed as soon as possible now.”

A spokesperson for Sanctuary said: “We are committed to resolving the intermittent issue with the water pressure and are sorry for the inconvenience our customers have been caused.

“As it was taking longer than expected to complete the repairs, we arranged for a different contractor to visit the property on Wednesday, November 19 and additional work has been identified following this inspection.

“To ensure the contractor can carry out the work as soon as possible, we have supported the family to move into temporary alternative accommodation until the repairs are completed.”