Paint stains, holes in the wall and crooked appliances. A group of residents of Nassaustraat in Tilburg are angry. The apartment residents believe that their apartments have been renovated very sloppily. “I have physical complaints from the stress,” says 54-year-old resident Henk Huijbregts.
A banner on the social housing flat reads in bold letters: “I’m cold. Thank you BAM and WBB.” The message is addressed to the contractor and housing association WonenBrebrug, who renovated a number of apartment buildings in the street after the summer of last year.
“It’s one big fiasco.”
The renovation took quite some time and is now causing complaints. “It’s one big fiasco. They break things and everything is poorly finished,” Henk continues. According to him, at least 25 apartments have problems.
Henk removes the bathroom threshold in no time. The heating in the kitchen has also been moved. It now hangs not under the window, but almost against the ceiling and under an extraction point. “The heat rises and the extraction also sucks away the warm air. So it is stone cold here,” he says. “They don’t fix anything. It’s been delivered, I’m told.”
Torn, loose wallpaper and a dark stain. They are remains of the place where the relocated heater hung. “They promised to finish it neatly, but they do not keep that,” says a 31-year-old resident. He wants to remain anonymous, out of ‘fear that housing will otherwise do nothing for him’.
The thermostat is also in the wrong place. “They used the wrong drill and they ended up at my neighbors.” They also left his front door open all day.
“They don’t do anything.”
“Just arguments and problems,” is how resident Edsel Rosaria describes the relationship with the housing association. He complains about mold and sloppy paintwork. “There are holes in the paint here due to the renovation,” he shows. He also complains about damage to his carpeting. “I’m very dissatisfied. They don’t do anything!”
BAM and WonenBreburg said in a written response: “We have finished it as discussed in advance with the residents. There were delays at the beginning of the project. The contractor has apologized for this and tenants have received compensation for this around 2500-2700 euros.”
According to WonenBreburg, its own survey shows that about 75 percent of residents are satisfied after the renovation. “It’s always the same people who complain,” say two other residents who are satisfied. Another man is doing his own work on Wednesday morning. “I’ll just solve it myself, then it will be neat.”
The compensation is not enough for the group of angry residents. “That was before the delay. They should just come back and solve the problems,” says Henk.
