A family from Erith have had their lives “turned upside down” after dealing with a flooded home – with the water “often reaching ankle height” on their ground floor.

It took two months of flooding for Rosemary Vincent and her family to be relocated by their landlord, Orbit Homes, as contractors struggled to stop a continuous leak from under the sink which began on November 4, 2022.

They have now been living in hotels for more than a month and while the leak has since been repaired, they have not been given any indication of when they will be able to return home.

Rosemary, 59, lives with her daughter, 40, and her three grandchildren, aged 22, 20 and 10-years-old on Birling Road in Erith.

Rosemary told the News Shopper: “The water is everywhere on the ground floor.

“It has gone from the kitchen to the front door, into the backroom and into the living room.

“All of the carpets are soaked out.

“Our whole family’s lives have been turned upside down because of this.

“Financially and emotionally - it's been a very stressful period.”

The family of five were forced to stay in the flooded property until they were relocated as they had “nowhere else to go” and were paying full rent as they were already in credit.

They were unable to use the kitchen whilst they were living in the house and had to wade through the water in wellington boots.

Rosemary explained: “My granddaughter has autism she has refused to go into the kitchen because we have to wear boots because of the water.

“It is sad because she likes cooking and she has not been able to do that.

“She doesn't want to go in at all now.”

Plumbers had reportedly been in and out of the property on multiple occasions and Rosemary claims that London Fire Brigade attended, but problems still continued with the leak for months.

Rosemary was told that the supply needed to be shut off in order to fix the leak, but Thames Water was reportedly unable to locate the pipe as they believe that it had been paved over.

Orbit Homes told the News Shopper that the property does have a stop valve as per government regulations - as all properties must be fitted with a conveniently located stop valve to cut off water to the home.

Rosemary and her daughter said they received “almost no contact from Orbit Homes” and often spent “hours on end on calling the call centre to try and speak to somebody”.

The freezing weather during December 2022 meant that the house became very damp and cold, causing Rosemary and her ten-year-old granddaughter to face medical issues.

She explained that she had been on antibiotics for a chest infection and her granddaughter had reportedly taken time off school for numerous weeks.

On January 13, 2023, a contractor and Thames Water tried different solutions but, in the end, Rosemary says that they cut the pipe the under the sink and the leak got much worse.

Her daughter then contacted the Orbit Housing call centre and demanded that the family was moved out of the property due to the volume of water. Rosemary explained: “It took a few hours before a decision was made to move us, which was to the Holiday Inn near the Dartford Crossing.

“This was booked for four days then they extended it for another six days.”

“The journey was very hard, we have to take mini cabs every morning to take her to school.

“I also had to take a cab to Dartford Station to get a train to connected to get to East London for work.”

Ten days later on January 23, 2023, they were told Orbit would be extending their stay at the Dartford hotel.

The daughter informed them that the cost of taxis was too inconvenient for the family and that they needed to be moved nearer to their home to get the youngest child to school.

10 days later, on February 3, they were moved to a Premier Inn in Bexleyheath – claiming that they didn’t receive any notice of the move, meaning Rosemary had to take time off work.

They were then moved into Holiday Inn in Bexley for two weeks as the contract had not been renewed before being moved back into the Premier Inn in Bexleyheath.

The leak in the Erith property has since been repaired and Orbit Homes has said that it is currently looking into any areas of water damage before the family can return.

They have now been informed that work will begin on March 6.

Rosemary added: “There has been very little communication from Orbit since the problem began - we are left in limbo.”

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A spokesperson for Orbit Homes said: “We can confirm that the leak has now been repaired. We are currently assessing any areas of water damage within the property and rectifying as necessary.

“In the meantime, we have provided temporary accommodation for the residents and will continue to liaise with them on our progress, including when they will be able to return to their home.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“We can confirm that this property has a stop valve as per the regulations.”