A resident of Gwenllian Morgan Court has criticised the building’s management company, First Port, over ongoing leaks in the building.

 The roof is said to have been leaking for over two years and one resident of the building is unhappy about the lack of repair work. The leaks have only gotten worse due to the recent poor weather conditions.

 The resident told the Brecon & Radnor Express: “The roof has been leaking for over 2 years and the management have neglected to get it repaired. Various reasons have been given for not getting a company in and the 50 or so elderly residents are being put in danger as the water is running through power cables. 

 “The fire service has attended 7 times over the last week on false alarms due to water getting into power cables. 

“The repair is due to start early next month with a cost to the residents of almost £100,000 to repair a flat room that has been leaking for over two and a half years. If this job is done while the area is wet, not only will it not stick, but it will seal the wet in and enter the internal structure.

“If this had been done 3 years ago, it would have been about £10,000, now with all the damages you’re looking at about £100,000 and that’s not taking into account whatever internal damages have now been done because it’s now down right through the building to the bottom floor.

"It’s leaking down in the bottom toilet, so you can imagine all that water and this place is kept fairly warm, that’s going to turn into mould and there’s a lot of people with chest and medical issues here. Once you get mould in a building, it’s difficult to get out. 

“They (First Port) seemed to have changed managers so often that the problem just gets kicked down the road and subsequently it’s been left for years to do the damage it’s done. It’s expensive to live in this place; we have a contingency fund but because this problem has been allowed to get so bad, that fund is gone, so basically the residents pot of gold is gone.” 

 Repair works are now underway at Gwenllian Morgan Court. 

 In response to the resident’s complaints, a spokesperson for the property management company said: “We are sorry for the disruption caused by this roof leak. We understand that this has been frustrating for residents, particularly as the timing of the work has been dictated by the expert advice of the surveyors on carrying out this work during the winter period and the availability of contractors. 

 “The development has been professionally inspected to ensure it is safe with the appropriate fire safety measures in place. The repair work is now underway, and we will continue to update residents and support them until this issue is resolved.”

The property management company have also said an initial quote was sourced for the repair work in February 2022, which triggered a Section 20 consultation process with leaseholders. They had to retender three times due to difficulties sourcing contractors able to carry out the works. This, along with periods of bad weather, resulted in significant delays in getting the repair work started.

The company also said they recognise that the initial quotes for the repair work were lower than the final sum as these were based on details in the original roof survey report. The Section 20 process involves a more detailed surveyor inspection to ensure all parts of the roof are appropriately addressed and a contingency is in place if additional work is required, which can cause an increase in the cost of the work required.  

A leak diverter system was installed in November 2023, which had been very effective until the excessive rainfall experienced at the end of December and the Development Manager has been assisting residents with any concerns and removing mould where possible.

Following a consultation with First Port's specialist fire safety inspector and the local fire service in early January, they put interim fire safety measures in place and disabled the smoke detectors in a small part of the communal area on the second floor of the building. This was due to water ingress causing unwanted and repeated fire alarm activations.

The company says the fire alarm system is tested on a weekly basis and residents are aware of the current evacuation procedure in the event of a fire.