The Buckler family, from Dinas Powys, have been relocated roughly 15 miles away and say the added travel costs have set them back thousands of pounds after their house was gutted in a fire caused by an exploding e-scooter.
On Friday, January 9, Matthew, his wife and their four children woke up just after midnight to an exploded electric scooter which destroyed their Caerphilly Close home in a matter of minutes. The electric scooter had been in their hallway and within eight minutes the entire house was ablaze. Luckily, the family managed to escape, with some making their getaway through the door and others having to jump from the window.
House written off after blaze
Part of the roof of the end-of-terrace property caved in and photos from the aftermath showed a thick layer of soot covering the windows inside the home. "The house is written off, every single room gone," Matthew said afterwards.
"We lost absolutely everything. We had a car and a camper and that was it. The community was awesome, they rallied around us. We've been taking it one day at a time but it's just added stress."
Relocated to Llantwit Major
After temporarily staying with family, United Welsh, the housing association who look after the home, moved the family to a house in Llantwit Major in February. The interim house is almost 15 miles from their home, on Heol Croeso. Since moving roughly half an hour away from where they work and where their children go to school, the family said they have been facing added costs to travel around the Vale of Glamorgan.
Matthew said: "We've worked out that it's cost us an extra £3,500 just in travel expenses from February to September. The communication with United Welsh is just terrible."
However, United Welsh said they have closely supported the family since the house fire, including sending a goodwill payment of £1,500 to help them settle into temporary accommodation and covering removals costs. The housing organisation added that they are not required to reimburse any additional mileage costs incurred.
Uncertainty over return date
Matthew said the family are also unsure when their fire-damaged home will be ready to move back into, having been completely gutted and renovated since the blaze. "Everything is a fight. It doesn't need to be. We're at our absolute wits end now. We just want to know what is going on. It's heartbreaking at times."
He said he'd heard from builders at the house that they may be back in their home in 14 weeks but said he was struggling to get updates from the housing association. "I'm finding that out by a neighbour who is asking the workers. Nobody is actually telling us."
A spokesperson from United Welsh said they have advised the family that they will be returning to their Caerphilly Close house, and have given them an estimated return date of January.
"It's impacted us massively. We just want to get back home and get back to normality. It will be awesome but I'm also unsure how the kids will settle because of the fire and how fast it all happened. It's been very stressful the past few months. We're trying to go camping as much as possible to get away from it and the negativity surrounding the house."
United Welsh provide affordable homes and services to people across South Wales. They work across 11 different local authority areas, and look after 711 homes in the Vale of Glamorgan.
