A Margate mum says Southern Water cut off supply to her home six months ago after the property was deemed as derelict with no occupier – and are now asking for almost £4,000 to turn it back on.
Amy Redmond and husband Luke bought the property in Millmead Road two years ago and have been working on overhauling it bit by bit.
During the week the couple and their six year old son live above their business, Margate Arts Club in Cliftonville, but Amy says the weekends are too noisy and so she and her son stay at the new property.
But in January the water supply was cut off. Amy says she has been paying bills with the most recent, seen by The Isle of Thanet News, being in January when she was billed for standing charges.
‘Basic human right’
Six months after supply was cut off and there is still no water at the property with Southern Water saying it will cost £3,616.76 to turn it back on.
Amy, 42, said: “Our house may look derelict, but it is in repair and still lived in by myself and my 6 year old son. We have been paying for water and yet for 6 months now we have had none.
“The builders had found lead pipes, so we have modernized everything from our side of the house. The final task is that Southern Water turn the water back on, which is our basic human right, that we pay for.
“We were quoted £3616.76, to turn on a water tap from the pavement. The water is accessed from Kent Road, which is a quiet, wide pavement and requires no road closure.
“We have since had various departments from Southern Water come out and agree that this quote was ludicrously high and that because no road closure would be required it would be a simple job, which should be free.
“We have been passed between departments for 6 months, all giving us conflicting information and blaming other departments. Meanwhile, we are paying for water in a house, with a child, with no water.”
Halt to renovations
Amy, who is also a director for Margate Pride and Power of Women festival, says it has been impossible to carry on with renovation works without access to water which would be needed by tradesmen such as the plasterer and the tiler.
She said: “We were supposed to be living at the house by now. When myself and my son stay there he is having to wee in a bucket and I have a stye because it is unhealthy. It has been months of stress, ill health and inconvenience.
“It is crazy that they would charge a little family nearly £4,000 just to turn a pipe back on.
“We live above Margate Arts Club but it is too loud for my son at the weekends so we bought this little house in Dane Valley but it needs a lot of work. If we have to stay above the club we’d have to close the business.
“We do up parts of the house when we can afford it. It will be lovely one day but right now it is without water.
“We are outraged that a company that paid £587,000 to its four executives in 2022/2023 and over £4,600,000 in bonuses is demanding a small local family pay nearly £4000.
“In a cost of living crisis, and with the company constantly dumping sewage into our local ocean, the inability to actually do the simple task asked of them, which is to provide water to a home is shocking.”
‘Health and safety risk’
Southern Water says having an empty home and a lug of water in pipes poses a health and safety risk to the wider network which is why if a property is empty for more than six months it is disconnected. It is understood Southern Water has been unable to trace a live billing account for the address, with the company saying the last record is from 2020.
A spokesperson for Southern Water said: “We’re sorry to hear this customer is experiencing a challenging situation at this address.
“Resolving the water supply here is complex, but we are committed to getting this home connected to our network once more. We are still investigating various costing options, and remain in contact with the customer about these.”
