Appeal for ‘Joy 1066’

An elderly and disabled resident of Hastings is hoping that a GoFundMe appeal will relieve her dire situation, after falling prey to rogue builders. The need for security and confidentiality is an aspect of the case but HOT has made inquiries and is satisfied that the story is genuine. The victim is known as ‘Joy 1066’. Bernard McGinley reports.

A frail local lady, who is registered blind, has been a victim of rogue builders. Joy, nearly 90 years old, was targeted by a ‘local builder’ while undergoing medical treatment including cancer surgery and chemotherapy.

The builder destroyed her home, incorrectly installed a highly unsuitable and faulty flat roof onto her small home, causing dangerous deep ponding and hazardous extreme weight over the entire roof. The severe damage led to exposed cavities and rain streaming in through the roof and ceiling. New wiring was badly done, causing a fire hazard.

The faulty building work has been inspected by numerous building surveyors. The result was deemed structurally unstable, dangerous and uninhabitable from the date of construction. The builder refused to inspect, correct or reimburse Joy, even while working nearby on his own house renovation project.

Health

Joy now lives anxiously in fear of roof and ceiling collapse, her unstable bedroom a bare sodden mess. Three years of severe wet and mould, with decaying floorboards and walls, have caused great distress and worry — intensifying her severe health problems, while Joy is slowly trying to recover from major surgery and longterm severe illness.

Efforts to reclaim building costs (with further expenses involved in correcting the damage caused) have so far been unsuccessful. Remedial possibilities such as through County Council Trading Standards, insurance, building grants, the police, and court action, have come to nothing.

Appeal

The appeal for ‘Joy 1066’ can be found on GoFundMe. Crowdfunding is Joy’s only hope — urgently trying to secure her roof, ceilings, floors and home from a third year of continuous exposure to bad weather, heavy leaks, with a structurally unstable home environment. Building contractors have provided quotes for all vital work essential to repair and rebuild, plus additional work which is crucial to make Joy’s home safe, where she is forced to continue to live.

Another cowboy

Before being ensnared by this cowboy builder, Joy had the misfortune to deal with another, PBS. They took her life savings and provided incomplete and faulty work across her entire roof, damaging the building. They successfully dodged accountability. Then the second rogue took to cold calling with demands for payment. In each case the authorities took no effective steps, deciding that it was supposedly ‘a civil matter’.

Caution

Cowboys are a blight. An industry insider has pointed out the benefits of preparation in any building project:

The customer at the start should set down clearly what they want done. Usually that requires a specification and drawings. The legal relationship with the builder should be defined in a written contract (preferably an industry-recognised one). A credit check on the builder is a good idea, and the obtaining of at least three references for similar work. (Can that work be looked at?) The money and effort involved will pay off later. Regarding the contract, the advice is never to pay anything upfront, and to hold on to 5 % of the contract sum until completion — and then 2½ % until 1 year after completion for correction of any faults. Not doing these things involves risk.

All of this is stable-door stuff of course, and comes too late for Joy, who needs help of a different kind to pay for vital repairs and rebuilding.

An alternative term for cowboys is Bengal Lancers — chancers. Aspects of the story have been reported in the HIP and here.  The Sun has also carried news, and here. Both newspapers named the builder as Scott Saxby. Many other local residents were highly dissatisfied too, and left badly out of pocket.

Update

Joy continues to have no heating or hot water. In January 2025 a broken hot-water tank was drained and disconnected by Homeserve because of the deterioration of the roof and ceiling. Cold and dread make it an ordeal to live in a dangerous environment as Joy deals with cancer and other frailties. She needs help.

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