Mum left in tears as family struggle with no hot water

A West London family was left in a constant state of emotional and physical distress after living without heating or hot water for six weeks this summer.

Based in Ruislip, p, the Gleed-Young family first experienced problems with their heating back in August. At first, their immersion heater broke down, causing their hot water and heating to shut off.

This was particularly difficult for Logan Young, who has been recovering from a serious car accident, prompting him to move back in with his family.

The lack of hot water in the property seriously affected Logan’s ability to clean his wounds properly. Eventually, he was re-admitted into hospital with infected wounds.

Logan, 31, told the Gazette: “For the first three weeks after the accident, I couldn’t stand unassisted. Trying to wash while sitting in the bath was excruciating and the cold water made this much worse. I had to get help from my ex-girlfriend, which was demoralising.”

The family’s problem wasn’t just a one-off. Debby Gleed-Young, Logan’s mum, told the th Gazette that if the immersion im heating had h broken ke down for fo a day, in the middle dl of one of London’s hottest hotte ever summers, summ it could be forgiven. It’s not even that t it was broken bk f for seven weeks, k but the fact that she was ‘constantly passed back and forth’ by Hillingdon Council.

When Debby first reported the broken immersion heater, a technician from Hillingdon Homes was sent out to take a look. They decided that it was an issue for PH Jones, who is responsible for the heater, so one of their engineers was sent out to the property. PH Jones, Debby says, told her it was up to the council to fix.

Several weeks later, another Hillingdon Homes technician was sent out to the property who, Debby claims, spoke to his boss during the visit and said that it was once again an issue for PH Jones. Fed up of being passed from pillar to post, Debby phoned PH Jones to figure out what was going on.

“I just burst into floods of tears on the phone,” Debby added. “I work with families who have disabled children to fix these exact types of issues, so for me to be in tears is saying something. And I want to be clear, PH Jones has been absolutely fantastic – they sent us over three little heaters which did help and they urged the council to act, but they just didn’t.”

Though the property’s heating and hot water is now back on, the immersion heater is still yet to be fixed. This worries Debby and her family as they fear it could cause the hot water and heating to break down once again. This could not only cause more issues for Logan but the family’s mental health.

Debby continued: “Hillingdon Council is failing its residents, they just keep sending out the wrong people. It’s just been absolutely devastating to go through and even harder feeling as though you can’t help your son, who was really struggling.”

Logan felt helpless during the early days of recovery, watching his mum struggle, not wanting to let on how much the cold bathing was affecting him. He said: “She was so concerned for me, I didn’t want to let on that the cold was hurting but to see your mum passed back and forth...no one wants to see your mum upset.”

Logan is now back working parttime as an engineer for Transport for London as he continues his recovery.

The Gazette has contacted Hillingdon Council for comment.

s Debby Gleed-Young