Perry Bishop and Chambers respond to Great Flood

Created: 15/08/2007

The heavy rain may have flooded the Cotswolds on 20 July, but they also swamped the Lettings departments of Perry Bishop and Chambers.  Throughout their offices, the teams were extraordinarily busy helping flood damaged families by finding them temporary accommodation as well as rehousing tenants whose rented properties had been affected by the unexpected rainfall.

Denise Hayward, Faringdon’s Lettings Branch Manager commented: “We have experienced flooding like never before.  One of our existing tenants found their property was under water, up to kitchen worktop height.  They managed to rescue most of their belongings but were obviously incredibly upset by the whole ordeal.  The property will take approximately 6 months to dry out and be refurbished before it is habitable again.  However, we were able to rehouse and move them in three days.”

One of Faringdon’s tenants is an employee who got home to find water pouring through her cottage.   Esther McManus kept the water out as much as possible by bailing buckets of water.  She now has two dehumidifiers on the go permanently and has no carpets!

Cheltenham was one of the worst hit areas in the region.  Not only did the staff of the three Perry Bishop and Chambers offices not have water for some nine days themselves, the Lettings team was involved in rehousing affected tenants in the area.  Uniquely, all three offices remained opened throughout the period and Ian Perry, director, said “Our dedicated staff were the only reason we were able to stay open.  When we were aware that the mains water was going to be disconnected, bottled water from around our offices was collected and taken over to our colleagues.”

In Nailsworth, the team were called to rehouse a family who have come from a flooded area out of the immediate vicinity with their rent being paid for by their insurance company.

The Cirencester Lettings team also helped flood victims.  Three families viewed properties on the Wednesday after the rains, and were quickly and efficiently moved in by the Friday, fully referenced by the in-house team.   

The last word is back with Denise Hayward.  Whilst trying to help her tenants who were badly affected, she herself was stranded in Faringdon on the Friday evening leaving work at 9.00pm.  She was rescued by her partner in his 4x4 and as Denise recalls “we sailed home through waters that came scarily close to coming in through the door and over the bonnet!.  I never want to go through that again”.

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