An ongoing problem with hot water supplies at Le Grand Courtil is being fixed and the Guernsey Housing Association has said it will be better at communicating with its residents in the future.
Concerns were raised by members of the public directly with Express earlier this month, after some residents said they hadn’t had hot water for a number of weeks.
It was suggested that some residents were having to boil kettles to be able to have a ‘strip wash’ in their bathrooms because their showers and baths were running cold.
The GHA has apologised for the ongoing problems – which relate to an issue with the communal hot water cylinders – and its Chief Executive has acknowledged that they need to do better at communicating with residents.
“Since February our maintenance team and contractor have been working to fix the issue, which has affected a small minority of homes,” explained Vic Spade.
“Following more tests this week, our contractor recommended that we fit new cylinder circulation pumps to better regulate the temperature, which is happening now. The tests showed that showers reached the correct temperature within minutes. However, we identified an issue with the kitchen hot tap, which is now a top priority.”
The problem had originated earlier this year, and a contractor was employed to look at the communal hot water cylinders. A new one was fitted but that didn’t resolve the issue, said Ms Slade.
“As a landlord, it’s our responsibility to make sure that homes are well maintained, and we accept we haven’t resolved this as quickly as we would have liked.
“We also understand we can do better to communicate what’s happening, when and why to residents and family members. We are really sorry for the difficulties that some residents have experienced, and we are reviewing our approach to ensure better information is shared going forward.”
Built over 10 years ago, Le Grand Courtil is an extra care scheme of 92 homes.
It is in St Martin’s and has other facilities on site too including staff who can assist residents.