Silva Homes has admitted it has “fallen short” in carrying out repairs for residents quickly.

The housing association – which manages former council homes across Bracknell Forest – has come under fire in recent months over reports of residents waiting months for urgent repairs.

Now a statement in its newly-republished annual accounts acknowledges the housing company has often failed to meet its own expectations in carrying out repairs – citing a backlog that built up during the pandemic for the delays.

The statement says: “Covid-19 had a major impact on our ability to meet the standards we set for service delivery, and we know from our annual customer perception surveys carried out in November 2021 and January 2023 that satisfaction has dipped, particularly in our ability to deliver our repairs service to meet customer expectations as well as our own performance targets.

“On occasions we have fallen short in our responsiveness to customers, including keeping them informed on progress with works on their homes.”

Several tenants and leaseholders in Silva Homes’ properties have come forward to the News with complaints of lengthy delays in recent months.

They include a man who says he had to shower in his yard after a dispute with Silva Homes left him without a useable bathroom for three months.

Another man, Martin Lewis, waited nearly six months for Silva Homes to repair a hole in his bathroom ceiling. And 81-year-old Rose Chanel spent six weeks without being able to use her shower due to a blocked drain.

In other complaints, Jerry Brombley of Toll Gardens has been in dispute with Silva Homes over his mouldy flat. The social landlord says it cannot move him, despite the fact he has cancer.

And a Silva Homes leaseholder, Kevin Foulger, said long-awaited repairs to a gutter left rain “pouring like a waterfall” despite a fee of hundreds.

Silva Homes regional managing director Dasos Christou said it had to pause “non-urgent” repairs during the pandemic, which led to a large backlog. But he said an action plan to deal with it had cleared hundreds of repairs.

Mr Christou said: “To keep our customers and colleagues safe during the Covid-19 pandemic, and in line with Government guidelines, we had to adapt, and in some cases pause, non-urgent repairs and services.

“Since the pandemic, we implemented an action plan to reduce the backlog of outstanding repairs.”

He added: “Our team have been working hard to clear remaining backlogs whilst keeping our repairs and servicing service running smoothly.

“This included completing 339 outstanding repairs orders for fencing which are now done, and 192 void properties had repairs and compliance works carried out to enable them to be returned to let from April 23 – October 23.”