Elderly and vulnerable residents have been left without hot water in the cold weather in homes owned by Paradigm Housing. 

A resident of Glebe Way in Chalfont St Peter, who wished to remain anonymous, slammed the housing provider after on-going problems with the heating and hot water at their retirement block. 

The alarm was raised when the block of flats was left without heating since April until over the summer.

Paradigm Housing confirmed in August works couldn’t start due to “asbestos being present,” but someone would come and assess the work needed and provide a timeline.

Since then, no asbestos has been removed and the tenants have become frustrated due to delays and being “lied to” about works progress. 

“We’re not coping, we’re frustrated, we’re angry and nobody comes,” the resident said.

“We have limited heating and no hot water. They are adding insult to injury.”

The residents were previously given portable heaters and Paradigm Housing said they would pay tenants £3.50 per day per heater, which “doesn’t even give you two hours of heat,” the resident said.

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Some new piping was fitted, but apparently they don’t fit down the gullies leading to one of the blocks and they are “badly insulated” and likely to fail, the resident said. 

Drains have been left open without covers and works fencing was erected around the site. However, the fencing would be on the way if some elderly residents needed to be removed in an ambulance stretcher or chair in an emergency, the resident alleged. 

A spokesperson for Paradigm Housing said in a statement: "We’ve been working hard to rectify the issues at Glebe Close and we’re sorry for the inconvenience our customers have faced during this time.

"We started the project on September 25 and, to keep disruption to a minimum for customers, we put in temporary pipes while we got the permanent ones sorted.

"We made the switch to the new permanent pipework on November 7, but we understand there have been a few issues with air getting trapped in the system. Our team is on site today, having a chat with customers and making sure everyone is OK. They have got hot water, but we've noticed that the flow isn't as strong as we'd like, especially when a lot of people are using it.

"Due to this, we have decided to replace the pump tomorrow, November 14. This should help increase circulation and improve the water flow during busy times. Safety has been a top priority throughout the project. We've fenced off certain areas as a precaution during external works and have adjusted the fencing based on feedback to make sure people could move around easily.

"Refuse bins have been moved in and out during collection times to make things as smooth as possible. We did have a report of a leak and attended on the same day but didn’t find any evidence of a leak. All the external pipes have been insulated.

"We will install the new pump tomorrow and make sure everyone is happy with the changes and we’d like to thank customers for their patience while we complete this major work."