Gloucestershire mother says her garden is a 'deathtrap'
A Gloucestershire mum is calling on Bromford Housing to fix her garden.
A Gloucestershire mother-of-two is calling on Bromford Housing to deliver on their promises to fix her “deathtrap” garden.
Adele Clarke, 30, has faced an “absolute living hell” after moving into her home in Winchcombe last November.
She says the Merret Place property was advertised with a flat garden but her home has a very steep slope which she believes is a health hazard.
Ms Clarke says she was assured that they would rectify the issue as it was not compliant with building regulations, when she moved into the housing association property.
But after conducting surveys they have since changed their minds and told her they do not have to do this, she said.
“My disabled child has been left with a deathtrap of a garden by Bromford Housing after being put in a new build property they had been promoting as a great living space for a new community,” Ms Clarke said.
“Pictures of it before it was built showed a flat surface on the garden. But you now have a six to eight foot drop at a steep degree angle from the top point.
“When you stand at the top point of the garden you are level with the six foot fence at the bottom.
“It is being propped up with two concrete posts so if you were to fall, I dread to think. You’d hit the concrete because it is such a large drop.”
She said it was a lengthy process to get the property and she had to go through a lot of paperwork to get a house which was appropriate for her disabled son. “When I moved in, I blasted my eyes out,” she said.
“I asked about the garden and what they are going to do. They said we are going to sort it out.
“‘We have realised it is against building regulations and we will get it sorted for you’. OK, fantastic, I thought. That was last November.”
he said she was told by the builders that they would decrease the slope or build the levels up – but later they claimed they did not have to do anything.
“They have since got some drone surveyors in to say actually they do not have to do anything with it,” Ms Clarke added.
“They say building regulations dictate that it is fine. Even though they haven’t provided any evidence or report to show how they have reached that conclusion. I’m just being told this by word of mouth.
“The builders are so misogynist and condescending. They talk down to me like I’m a silly little girl that doesn’t understand buildings and literally laugh in my face.”
Ms Clarke said the ground in the garden is slippy in the winter. And says she slipped and hit her head against the concrete at the bottom of the garden.
“I fell a few months ago and have sent pictures of my bruised eye socket and face to Bromford saying this is me,” she said.
“I just slipped and lost my footing because it is so steep and I was told ‘sorry it’s not our problem you should be more careful’.
“It’s horrific. If he were to slip and fall, he would literally knock himself out and probably die.”
Ms Clarke said she was also asked to provide a medical letter to prove that her eight-year-old son requires a built-in trampoline in the garden because of his disability.
She said an occupational therapist came to do a full report of the garden to put the equipment in.
“Even though I’m expected to pay for that privately, I couldn’t do that with the foundations being so drastically bad as they were.
“I’ve got a disabled child with a medical need to access outdoor space in order to deregulate himself.
“I can’t do that and it’s making all our lives an absolute living hell.”
She said she was told to go and get prices and they would give a compensatory value to get the work done for the trampoline.
“I provided the quotes two weeks ago and this morning they have come back and told me they have changed their mind,” she said.
“They said they are not obligated to do anything so they won’t.”
She said the only other alternative she was provided was to build another fence at the top of the slope which would “only leave her a three square metre garden”.
Bromford Housing say they are sorry Ms Clarke is unhappy with the garden at her new home.
They said a number of gardens in Merrett Place are sloped which customers may not have expected before viewing and signing their tenancy agreements.
Bromford have logged the complaint and say they will investigate it further. Catherine Jarrett, Regional Director at Bromford said: “We’re sorry Ms Clarke is unhappy with the garden of her new home.
“A number of the gardens at Merret Place are sloped, which customers may not have expected before viewing and signing their tenancy agreements.
We have visited Ms Clarke to discuss her concerns and have offered her the option of moving to another home on our development, which has a more suitable garden for her specific requirements.
“She has declined this offer. We have also offered to partition her garden and introduce planting along the slope to increase Ms Clarke’s peace of mind when her son is playing in their garden and to allow her to install a trampoline, which she has also declined.
“We have recorded Ms Clarke’s complaint about her garden which will be investigated further by our customer care team.”