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In This Bedok HDB Flat, Whenever Upstairs Neighbour Showered, Water Leaked into the Kitchen

2023-02-03 , 12:40 pm

Last Updated on 2023-02-04 , 1:42 pm

While most of us might have been loving the rainy weather as of late, we probably only like the comfy weather when we’re stuck snugly in our warm homes.

But it seems like this resident in Bedok hasn’t had the same experience as most of us.

In fact, the rain that she has experienced is in her house.

And it only happens when her neighbour upstairs showers.

Yup, you’ve probably figured out by now that it’s not “actual” rain. It’s a leakage from her neighbour’s house to hers.

Here’s what’s been going on and what this resident has been trying to get done.

Bedok Resident Experiencing “Raining” Whenever Her Upstairs Neighbour Showers

When speaking to Shin Min Daily News, 34-year-old Ms Lin (Hanyu pinyin) explained that her Housing Development Board (HDB) flat at 108 Bedok North Road has been experiencing water leakages over the past six months.

However, the leakages have gotten more severe in the past three months.

Ms Lin, who first moved into her home one-and-a-half years ago in July 2021, said that everything with the house seemed fine initially.

The previous owner had stayed in the unit for ten years, and the unit has 46 years left on its lease.

Regarding the water leakage, she said that it is still “minor” when the neighbours are not using their water supply, but it gets more severe when her upstairs neighbours take showers.

She added that she spent quite a fortune on renovation works but ended up having to remove part of a wooden cabinet at home due to wood decay caused by the excessive water leakage.

According to her, she spent over $9,000 on the cabinet, and its removal cost her $400.

Experienced Electrical Outages As Well

And that’s not all.

Ms Lin added that she has experienced over ten power outage incidents since then. Now, she uses a plastic bag to “insulate” the area whenever she switches on the electricity in her house.

Additionally, one of her electrical plugs is located right under the part of her ceiling that experiences water leakage.

This has resulted in the power being cut off whenever she turns the switch on.

Ms Lin, who spent around $5,000 on the electricity lines in her house, even hired an electrician multiple times to try and solve this issue.

However, the electrician told her that the power would still get cut off constantly if the socket continues to be exposed to the water leakage.

As a result, Ms Lin had no choice but to shift the power socket elsewhere.

However, she is unsure if this will affect the electricity for the rest of the house, making her extremely worried.

Has Contacted the Relevant Authorities

Apart from that, Ms Lin also revealed that she has contacted HDB for further assistance.

HDB will be deploying personnel to her home on 9 February to conduct the relevant checks.

She added that HDB recommended that she apply for the Goodwill Repair Assistance Scheme, which will cover 50% of the cost of her repair works.

However, she will have to wait around two to four months for the work to be carried out.

Ms Lin then explained that she is more concerned about getting the repair works done earlier as the water leakage has already started spreading to other areas of her house, such as her room.

She has also contacted Goody Feed, saying that she has since tried to contact her upstairs neighbour via WhatsApp again for the upcoming HDB officers’ visit, but her neighbour didn’t respond.

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Neighbour Refused to Find Someone to Solve the Leakage Problem, Resulting in Ms Lin Suing the Neighbour

As for how her neighbour has been dealing with the water leakage issue, Ms Lin claimed that she first told the neighbour about the problem when it first started.

She added that she had asked the neighbour to hire someone to do repair work and solve the leakage issue temporarily, but the neighbour rejected her suggestion.

According to Ms Lin, this caused the leakage issue to worsen over time.

As a result, Ms Lin filed a report at the Small Claim Tribunals (SCT) last month and asked for $4,500 to $5,000 in compensation from her neighbour.

Currently, no decision regarding the case has been made yet.

When Shin Min reporters saw the neighbour in question on Wednesday (1 February) night, the neighbour declined to comment on the situation.