Côtes-d’Armor. These tenants fear a third winter without heating, but what is their landlord doing?

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François and Véronique Morvan, from Belle-Isle-en-Terrenear Guingamp (Côtes-d'Armor) are tenants of the public office Terres d'Armor Habitat for 24 years. They live in the subdivision of rue Maurice-Noguès.

François provides replacements on farms and Véronique, his wife, is a social worker at the Belle-Isle-en-Terre nursing home. But for almost three yearsthe couple's daily life is undermined by the lack of heating.

Boiler breakdown

It's not for lack of paying their rent, every month, “not one late”, they assure. Their struggle began in January 2022when they had just filled up with fuel. The boiler breaks downin the heart of winter.

When they contacted the social landlord, they were told that the boiler would not be repaired, “too old and the standards have changed”, specifies the couple.

Despite regular calls, “nothing is moving”, they lament, until the beginning of 2024. A company comes to provide a quote for a heat pump. Six months later, another company came to provide a new quote for electric heating. The couple gets no return from these two passages.

Mold and colds

François and Véronique have just had an agent stop by to take measures, but have no more hope. “Fortunately, last winter was not too harsh,” explains Véronique. The only source of heat in the house is a small electric fireplace which consumes a lot, lent by Laurence, a friend.

With the humidity this year, everything deteriorated even more quickly, say François and Véronique, obliged to buy back beds and bedding which had become moldy. The couple and their two daughters, aged 24 and 16, suffer from constant colds. The family is at their wits' end, and would like not to spend a third consecutive winter without heating.

The response from Terres d’Armor Habitat

Contacted this Monday, Terres d'Armor Habitat sent us this response: “Although Terres d'Armor Habitat recognizes a certain latency in processing the request, the order from a company to switch the home to electric heating was validated last week.

Terres d'Armor Habitat adds that “the tenants will be informed (if this has not already been done) of the date of the company's intervention which should take place very soon. This accommodation, like some other accommodations in this residence, is scheduled for a thermal rehabilitation operation in 2025 (including insulation and improvement work on the accommodation).”

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