Family-of-four in Hammersmith have lived with hole in kitchen ceiling for nearly a year

Cesar Medina's family have been forced to live mainly off takeaways due to the threat of a potential ceiling collapse in the kitchen of their flat in Hammersmith, West London.  

And though their landlord, Octavia Housing, has helped them by providing food vouchers, the family say they cannot live on takeaways forever. 

Mr Medina, 22, says they have therefore taken to using the kitchen anyway - knowing that the ceiling could cave in at any moment. 

The family, who have lived in the flat since July 2021, have been given £2,000-worth of food vouchers and promised a discount on rent since the hole first emerged. 

But they're still yet to receive money back in line with the discount, they say, while their rent has gone up twice so far this year.

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Mr Medina says his mother, an NHS healthcare assistant, is ashamed to have people over because of the hole in the ceiling and the surrounding support beams. 

Their inability to use the kitchen in their home also made making Christmas dinner far more difficult. 

"We haven't received any compensation and there's no date yet as to when they are going to fix the ceiling," Mr Medina said.

"It happened in August last year. In 2022, a crack started to appear in the kitchen. 

"Someone came to paint over it but it kept reappearing. Then one guy found a small hole and realised there was some debris. 

"He called the building manager and said it could be dangerous. 

"On the next occasion, they removed the ceiling as some of the wooden beams had been eroded.

"The ceiling was not secure and they left it at that, saying it needs bigger work."

Temporary metal beams were erected in the kitchen a short time later which still stand in the kitchen today. 

Octavia offered to put the family up in a hotel whilst the repairs were undertaken, though this would have left Mr Medina's mother, 51-year-old Irina Castilla, far from her job at Hammersmith Hospital. 

Food vouchers amounting to £15 per head for each day were also offered to the family as they were advised not to use their kitchen until the hole was fixed, though Mr Medina says these didn't arrive until January this year. 

"Since they put the beams up, no one has tried to fix the issue," he continued. "It's been like this since [last] August... It has changed our lifestyles. It's horrible.

"At first we were worried about using the kitchen, because they said it was unsafe. 

"But we can't spend money on takeouts every day. There are four of us in this flat and we all work. 

"It doesn't make sense. We cook knowing that the ceiling could give way at any moment. 

"We're used to the beams being here now, but we don't want to be."

Mr Medina, who works as a journalist, added that chasing Octavia to fix the problem had become like taking on another part-time job.

"It has been like a part-time job getting this sorted - the constant chasing up," he said. "It's been like a side gig. 

"We have to always worry about this. Have they got back to us? Have they scheduled the work? 

"It's always the copy-and-paste responses. I'm sure each tenant has similar problems, but it feels like they're not trying to work with us. 

"They've increased the rent twice this year. If we hadn't been so persistent, they probably wouldn't have given us the money in January for the food vouchers."

Octavia Housing has told the family they will discount their rent from when the problem occurred, and compensate them for the extra rent paid since - though this is still yet to happen, the family say.

The lack of kitchen space has also led to difficulties for the family when hosting guests. 

Mr Medina continued: "We always host Christmas at ours, but we couldn't really cook the normal stuff last Christmas.  We had to drive at least half an hour round my older brother's house in Chiswick to cook some of the food, which didn't make it easy. 

"We can't even open the freezer because there's a beam in the way. My parents are ashamed to have people over.

"The contractors leave their tools and stuff lying around and there are beams in the hallway. It's disappointing that it's still like this.

"Octavia have helped us out with the money, but as it has gone on and got more difficult their care and effort have started to deteriorate slightly."

A spokesperson for Octavia said: "We are very sorry for the delay in carrying out this repair at one of our homes, and for the distress and inconvenience caused. 

"We accept that this level of service falls below the standard our residents expect and deserve. We are arranging to complete this repair as quickly as possible.”