Heaters used to keep residents warm as they face a second winter without insulation are not faulty, a housing firm has said.

Boyd Court residents in Bracknell are entering their second winter without insulation after being left in ‘absolutely freezing’ conditions last year.

Temperatures dropped to seven degrees in some homes, with one neighbour allegedly hospitalised due to the cold.

Abri, which has now merged with Silva Homes, has confirmed that work to install the new wall cavity insulation will begin on November 18, with the majority of work to be completed by Christmas.

But as residents wait, some have complained their electric heaters have not been working properly – leaving them even colder.

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Penny Marway, who has lived at Boyd Court for seven years, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “With the heating, they [neighbours] are always complaining on the site.

“The heaters are just completely dead. Both of my teenage sons are autistic and have ADHD and my eldest has asthma so needs to stay warm.”

The 52-year-old has since confirmed her heater has started working again ‘for now’, but that she worried it would happen again into the colder months.

Mrs Marway said: “They’ve had their vans repainted and new uniforms. They could have repaired everyone’s heaters with that money.”

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A spokesperson for Boyd Court tenants, who didn’t want to be named, said she had heard ‘a few’ residents complaining about their radiators, and urged them to report it to the housing firm.

Abri has said that since 2023, there have been four radiator repairs raised by tenants.

Tim Hall, Lead Asset Partner at Abri said: “The safety and wellbeing of our customers is our highest priority. New radiators were installed in 2023 and are performing well.

“Only a few isolated issues have been raised and work for two outstanding repairs have been booked.”

The housing firm has offered temporary heaters to those affected and has offered to reimburse running costs.

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These offers have been declined by affected residents, according to Mr Hall.

Abri says that the new insulation, which will begin to be installed this month, will ‘help the homes reach warmer temperatures much more quickly and help them retain the heat’.

Residents were left ‘absolutely freezing’ last winter after insulation was removed – and has not since been installed, despite promises it would be complete by this summer.

The housing firm says it is monitoring the temperature in several flats, which are ‘maintaining comfortable levels’.