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Newbury family left homeless after Storm Franklin takes off part of roof




A Newbury family has been left homeless after Storm Franklin blew a large portion of their roof off their house.

Lu Wilkins, who lives in Denman Drive near Newbury Racecourse with her husband Andrew and her four children, said she heard a “massive bang” on Sunday evening as a shower of bricks and timber were blown from the roof on to the road next to her house.

Mrs Wilkins, who has rented the house from Sovereign since December 2013, when it was first built by David Wilson Homes, said it was lucky that no one had been killed.

Mrs Wilkins with sons Adam Wilkins, 8, and Oliver Walls, 21, in front of their house
Mrs Wilkins with sons Adam Wilkins, 8, and Oliver Walls, 21, in front of their house

She said: “I was home-schooling and working from home on Friday and the house shook, but I thought it was just Storm Eunice.

“Then on Sunday, we’d just had dinner, when we heard a massive bang.

“My husband checked the loft and all he could feel was the wind.

Mrs Wilkins said it was lucky no one had been killed
Mrs Wilkins said it was lucky no one had been killed

“He said we need to get out immediately, we’ve lost our roof.

“It could’ve been seriously dangerous – it could’ve gone inwards which meant my kids could’ve died.

“Our kids play outside, if it was the summer it could’ve killed them.”

The house has now been condemned until at least tomorrow (Wednesday), when workmen are able to examine the property – one of three connected three-storey houses – to see if the roof is about to collapse.

Bricks and rubble next to the house
Bricks and rubble next to the house

In the meantime, the Wilkins family have been forced to move into Mrs Wilkins’ mother’s house, who has gone to Mrs Wilkins’ brother’s house, while six other families nearby have also temporarily moved out, fearing something similar might happen to their house.

Mrs Wilkins said the electricity had been turned off, with £300 of frozen food going to waste, while she fears for her husband’s tropical fish after the pump was switched off.

She said that Sovereign had offered to pay for her and others’ temporary accommodation, with her neighbours choosing to stay in a Travelodge, but that they would continue to have to pay rent and their own food.

How the roof now looks
How the roof now looks

This isn’t the first time Mrs Wilkins, a support assistant at Newbury College, has had problems with her roof.

She said she had had frequent leaks for the past three years, with Sovereign eventually putting up scaffolding last summer in an attempt to resolve the problem.

However, the leaks restarted in October, and Mrs Wilkins was forced to contact Newbury MP Laura Farris, whose involvement compelled Sovereign to re-erect the scaffolding and check.

Mrs Wilkins said Sovereign realised the problem wasn’t what it originally thought, and builders from the association redid the roof.

However, the builders left a hole in the ceiling and wall in a bedroom to check the leak had been sorted, with the hole remaining there to this day after the property was taken off their job list.

Following Sunday’s incident, Mrs Wilkins said Sovereign’s response had been “awful”, with the housing association contacting other families before them.

She added: “We’re still expected to pay rent for a property that’s condemned and has a missing wall.”

David Wilson Homes is responsible for the housing development at Newbury Racecourse, and is currently building and marketing the 222-home ‘Donnington Heights’ estate on the west side of the A34 north of Newbury.

A spokesperson for David Wilson Homes Southern said: “Following Storm Franklin damage has been sustained to the gable end of one of the Sovereign Housing Association properties at our Newbury Racecourse development.

"We would like to apologise to the residents affected and together with Sovereign are working hard to investigate what occurred and get people back into their homes as quickly as possible.”

Sovereign housing director Luke Bingham said: “During the stormy weather, damage occurred to the gable end of one of our homes at Denman Drive, Newbury.

“Fortunately, no one was hurt and all customers have been moved safely to alternative accommodation while our surveyors assess the damage.

“Recent work carried out on the homes has been to rectify issues with the guttering.

“We’ll be working closely with David Wilson Homes to put together a plan of action for repair work so that our customers can return home as soon as possible.

“We’re already working with the Wilkins family to find a more suitable place for the family to live while repairs are carried out.

“We do require our customers to continue paying their rent, as while our customers are living in temporary accommodation, we pay for that, as well as contributing towards their meals and other reasonable costs.”

A JustGiving page has been set up to support the family.

To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/roof-comes-off?qid=96d17257a0c2fae03269b05afb811f3c



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