Crofton Park homeowner slipped a Roofie
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| The ruined roof |
Two weeks ago my 80 year old neighbour who lives in Crofton Park Road was approached by builders who knocked on his door to say that he needed his gutters fixed.
They subsequently took down his gutters and replaced the fascia board whilst he was out, without him having agreed to the works. They then proceeded to tell him that his roof was in urgent need of replacement and that, as a result of its poor state, water was coming into his neighbours' homes. This was not true.
The next thing my neighbour knew, the builders had erected scaffolding and started stripping his roof, once again without him agreeing to the works. The builder asked for £7,500 upfront for the works and my neighbour unfortunately, thinking he had no option and feeling intimidated, withdrew the money from his bank and paid them.
The following day, having said there was much more work needed than originally thought, the builder demanded a further £10,000. Once again my neighbour went to the bank to withdraw the cash but thankfully the bank were suspicious and concerned for my neighbour and immediately called Trading Standards. Trading Standards then visited the site and told the contractor to stop work and leave the site whilst they looked into the matter, and have subsequently told the builder not to return. Trading Standards are now investigating the matter further. My neighbour has now been left with only felt on his roof for two weeks.
A lovely neighbour has risked his own safety to climb the scaffolding, that has been declared unsafe by Building Control, to place a tarpaulin over the area of the roof that he could reach but this will not protect the house sufficiently if there is a period of sustained rain.
We are asking if the community would be kind enough to come together to help my neighbour. To provide comfort that this is a genuine plight, a picture of the roof is attached along with a couple of screen shots of neighbours confirming the situation on another forum.
We are looking to raise enough money to pay for building approval, tiles and other required materials, scaffolding and possibly roofing labour. If anyone is a roofing or scaffolding specialist and would be willing to donate their time that would be wonderful. One of my neighbour's immediate neighbours is a builder and would be happy to work alongside a roofing specialist to get the job done. Finally, if anyone has a close relationship with relevant suppliers and is able agree donated or at cost materials we'd love to hear from you.
If anyone would like to contribute to the money raising effort, please click on this link - https://www.gofundme.com/2nvchrz8. If there is any money left over once the roof has been reinstated then we will ask whether your preference is for the money to go to my neighbour or to a local community organisation and we will go with the majority.
The immediate next step is to determine if the work that has already been carried out is fit for purpose and to receive building control approval. A neighbour is working on this currently. I will post updates to keep you informed.
