Body of deceased woman allegedly left in Bucks retirement property for weeks

The woman, in her 70s, was found dead in her flat at Gatensbury Place, a Red Kite sheltered housing scheme for the over-60s in Princes Risborough, on August 21.

Her family have been informed and the death is not being treated as suspicious, Thames Valley Police said.

However, questions have been raised by residents and people who knew the tenant over how long her body remained in her home before being removed.

Red Kite said that one of its staff received a report of an odour at the flats during the first week of August.

But the housing association refused to confirm an exact date, only saying that the smell was reported some time around 4 August – more than two weeks before the tenant’s body was found.

The time between when the elderly woman died and when she was found has upset and angered some of the residents at Gatensbury Place, which does not have on-site staff or wardens, but receives ‘regular management visits’ by Red Kite staff.

“Red Kite need to be held accountable,” said one tenant, who wished to remain anonymous as they spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service this week.

“If you die, they don’t give a s**t,” they continued, “But when the rent is due, you better damn well believe they will take it.”

The tenant referred to the one time they were late paying Red Kite their rent due to them having emergency surgery, explaining that they were ‘threatened with bailiffs’.

They added: “I wish to God I never moved there. It’s a nightmare being there.”

The resident claims that a cleaner at the Gatensbury Place flats was ignored when she reported a smell coming from a flat to one of Red Kite’s ‘community champions’ at the site.

‘Champions’ are tenant volunteers who report things to Red Kite that they notice where they live, and who the housing association says are supposed to be ‘the eyes and ears’ of the neighbourhood.

“There is no reason why these so-called champions should be there if they don’t listen to helpful advice,” the resident said.

The tenant claimed that the cleaner told them last week that they had been reporting the smell to Red Kite for five weeks before the elderly tenant was found to have passed away.

They added: “She said, ‘I have been complaining for five weeks’, because she was so angry. She even told the champions that she smelt something down there and they told her, ‘Go clean the toilets while you’re at it’.”

The resident says that the elderly woman’s death and the way it has been handled has affected people living at Gatensbury Place.

They said: “It has really traumatised quite a lot of the elderly women who live there. There is one who’s 95 and she is afraid that that is going to happen to her.”

Red Kite’s head of communications, Julie Gamble-Kempe, said the housing association’s last contact with the deceased tenant was on 9 July and that she spoke to one of its cleaning contractors on 18 July.

She said the report of an odour was initially ‘not thought to be anything unusual’ when it was shared with a member of staff in August.

Red Kite claimed that staff visiting the site on 21 August again noticed a smell and carried out a ‘welfare check’ on the tenant, where they found her to be deceased.

Gamble-Kempe said: “We are saddened at the death of one of our tenants at Gatensbury Place and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time.

“We know that losing a friend is difficult and that news of our tenant’s death must have been distressing for everyone at the scheme.

“If any tenants have concerns or require extra support, we encourage them to contact us, we will also be visiting the scheme next week.”

A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: “At around 2.15pm on 21 August, officers were called to a property in Gatensbury Place, Princes Risborough, after a woman in her seventies was found deceased.

“The woman’s next of kin has been made aware and her death is being treated as unexplained, but not suspicious. A file has been prepared for the coroner.

“Our thoughts are with the woman’s family and friends at this very difficult time.”