Supply chain crisis hits home repairs
Properties damaged by WWII bomb won’t be fixed until next June
TENANTS living in homes damaged by a bomb blast in Devon in February face many more months waiting for repairs, thanks to a shortage of building workers and construction materials, worsened by the pandemic and Brexit.
Around 70 properties in Exeter have yet to be fully fixed following the detonation of a World War Two bomb which was uncovered on a city building site.
The 1,000kg Hermann bomb, dropped by the Luftwaffe during the Exeter blitz of 1942, was detonated by military personnel following the evacuation of around 2,600 homes.
The blast caused extensive damage and yesterday it emerged some 70 properties might not be fully repaired until June next year. Property owner LiveWest, which had 84 homes in the Glenthorne Road area where the blast occurred, initially told tenants they would face waits of up to six months.
James Reseigh, director of Neighbourhoods for LiveWest, said: “We are sorry that there has been a delay to our programme of work.
“Due to supply chain shortages of raw materials and the availability of contractors, we have had to increase the original estimated timescale we indicated. We are now aiming to start work in mid-September and are working hard with our project team and contractors.”
TENANTS whose homes were damaged when a Second World War bomb was detonated in Exeter seven months ago cannot expect all repairs to be completed until June next year.
Housing association provider LiveWest has apologised to the tenants who are living in properties damaged by the blast in February.
There are 70 homes affected in total, and residents have been told it will take up until June, 2022, for some repairs to be completed.
One tenant has been living with temperature extremes due to a broken bedroom window replaced by chipboard and a layer of plasterboard for the last six months.
LiveWest, which has 84 homes within an area that was cordoned off after workmen in Glenthorne Road found a rare SC1000 Nazi blitz bomb on February 26, initially told its tenants that they would face waits of up to six months for repairs to be comHowever, due to supply chain shortages of raw materials and the shortage of contractors, works will not begin until mid-September.
LiveWest has confirmed it is working with the contractors and customers to agree a plan for the works to be carried out.
Some of LiveWest’s homes were subjected to damage to the outside of the buildings, and each individual home was assessed by a structural engineer to ensure that each home was safe for customers to move back into.
There were significant amounts of glazed windows blown in all three blocks of flats within the detonated bomb area, with damage to UPVC frames and some internal damage to walls and radiators.
There was also some external damage to brickwork, which was subsequently made safe, and further surveying work to establish a programme of planned works was carried out.
Among the tenants who suffered damage to their properties is Lewis Pollard, who lives in a one-bedroom flat in a block of flats in Copplestone Drive.
He describes how his bedroom window was ‘snapped in half’ by the detonation, and the window is currently covered over with chipboard and a layer of plasterboard.
Lewis said: “The repairs were delayed multiple times and now they estimate the replacement of windows and doors to be completed in June, 2022 – much more than their original timescale.
“I have no bedroom window at all, so it was freezing cold in the winter and boiling hot during the summer.”
James Reseigh, director of Neighbourhoods for LiveWest, blamed shortages and staff issues.
‘The repairs were delayed multiple times and now they estimate completion in June 2022 – longer than the original timescale’ LEWIS POLLARD