A 96-year-old disabled woman was left housebound after her landlord refused to replace a broken wheelchair lift to her flat.

Joyce Wright has lived in Belgrave Gardens in St John’s Wood for four decades, and had a platform wheelchair lift fitted to steps leading up to her ground floor flat 12 years ago.

Her son-in-law, Clive Jackson, said that over the years the lift had become “more and more unreliable”, before seemingly breaking for good in April.

At this point, Joyce’s family contacted her landlord, Octavia Housing, to ask for a replacement lift to be fitted.

But Clive claims the housing association has refused their request, which has effectively left Joyce housebound for more than four months.

He acknowledged that the landlord had attempted to repair the lift during this time, but he said that on each occasion it had broken again almost instantly.

Clive explained: “They send people around, but nothing ever gets resolved.

“It just seems like it’s delaying tactics to me. You can’t help but think that they just don’t want to spend the money on it.”

He added that when Joyce had tried to use the platform lift to go out and about, it became stuck, forcing her to call 999 for help from the fire brigade.

Clive said: “She used to go shopping when she could get out, using her electric wheelchair, but she’s lost all confidence in using it now.

“It’s hit her confidence. She’s not somebody who watches television, so she’s just sat in her flat.

“It’s affected her mentally and physically because she can’t get out to get any fresh air.”

Joyce’s family have now reiterated their call for her housing association to urgently install a new lift.

Octavia Housing has now apologised for what has happened, and said that the issues with the chair lift were “taking longer to resolve than we’d like”.

A spokesperson for the housing association said: “Our specialist lift contractor has identified a faulty part which we are in the process of replacing.

“Unfortunately, we are experiencing difficulties sourcing this part, which has led to delays.”

They added that they have conducted “regular home visits” and provided care packages to try and support Joyce.

The landlord’s statement ended: “We are reviewing all available options as a matter of urgency and will continue to offer any assistance needed whilst we wait for the repair to be completed.”