Brrr..couple left with no heating or hot water in Edinburgh council home during cold-snap

Gordon Colquhoun, 37, had to go to hospital as the stress had left him suffering from severe headaches that were suspected to be a brain haemorrhage by doctors.

The urgent boiler repairs were first raised with Edinburgh City Council on January 11.

On January 12 an engineer went out to inspect the issue and discovered that the boiler needed a valve replaced as well as other new parts installed.

Gordon, a groundsman and his partner – a cleaner who wishes to remain anonymous - were told that the new parts would arrive in days.

Unfortunately the delivery of the parts was delayed - something that Gordon says was understandable considering the pandemic.

They called the councils’ repair direct and property management department to ask when the job would be completed and was informed that the parts had arrived and that an engineer would be sent out to fix the issue.

But when he called to follow-up the query on January 28 he was told that the job had not in fact been logged and that he would have to wait for the issue to be entered into the system.

On February 1 an engineer arrived in the middle of the afternoon to carry out the repairs only to realise that he did not have the correct qualifications.

Later that day an external contractor was supplied by the council but he arrived with no prior knowledge of the repairs that were required - he later returned on February 4 and carried out work.

Gordon said that after one full cycle of the heating being switched on the boiler stopped working again.

Just over a week later a senior council engineer came out to the property to inspect the issue, only to discover that no new parts had been installed.

Gordon said: “I had to go into hospital with the stress of it all. I had to have a CT scan and cerebral fluid taken out of my spine to test that it was not something more serious.

“I have been a tenant in this flat for over 15 years and it is disgraceful they way we have been treated.

“We were both furloughed and put a lot of money into our meter in January as to ensure we did not lose our hot water or heating. But slowly that money gets taken away in charges and we are having to fund electric heaters out of our own pocket. We asked the council for a small reduction in our rent to help us balance the costs but they refused saying that it was not possible.

A council spokesperson said: “We apologise for the time it has taken to resolve this issue and it falls short of the service level we would expect. We are currently in the process of arranging for a replacement boiler to be fitted.

“It's important that all tenants keep in touch with us during ongoing essential repairs to us, particularly the case where there may be a risk of health and safety to the tenant if the repair is not carried out.”

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