Leaders lettings branch pays tenant compensation following dispute over property
Wheelchair user Anna Ward says she is glad agency has now done the 'right thing' after a nine-month battle over repairs and adaptions.
A Leaders lettings branch in Cambridge has compensated a wheelchair user and tenant who claims to have been trapped in a property managed by the firm after repairs and adaptions to the property were not carried out.
The dispute began nine months ago when tenant Anna Ward (pictured, above) began complaining about mould and damp within her rented home in the city but says her request for the problems to be solved were not taken seriously by staff.
This included a requested wheelchair ramp not being fitted to the property, delays fitting handrails to her bathroom, flooding at the property and ‘angry emails’ from Leaders staff.
Matters came a head last weekend when 20 representatives from tenant campaigning group Acorn protested with banners outside the Leaders branch on Hills Road to highlight Ward’s plight.
Since then the 23-year-old says Leaders has had a change of heart and met her demand for compensation.
Right thing
“I’m so happy that Leaders has finally done the right thing and are making the necessary repairs to my house and paying for my damaged belongings,” she told CambridgeLive.
“It shouldn’t have taken this long but I am glad that with the help of my union and the power of a good protest I’ll finally be going home in time to sit my exams and graduate!”
The Negotiator approached parent company LRG for comment.
“We were sorry to hear of Anna’s experiences and are pleased to have now resolved the issues in the property and come to an agreement,” says Michael Cook, National Lettings Managing Director at Leaders (pictured).
“We are continuing to review elements of Anna’s complaint to ensure that we provide the high level of customer service that we aim to achieve across the group.”
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