|
|
 |
| |
Living in turmoil, but ‘it’s only social housing’
• WE represent a council block of approximately 130 flats that was refurbished during 2005 under Camden’s Raising The Standard scheme.
This refurbishment was 10 years overdue, so at commencement the building was in an appalling state of repair, yet sadly we are forced to say that 18 months following completion the residents in general are far from happy with a) the standard of the work, and b) the incompetence of the council personnel involved.
During the works themselves, residents regularly pointed out flaws with parts of the works prior to their fitting, yet were ignored, only for the works to be redone later when the residents’ concerns were proved right.
The flooring colour scheme chosen by the residents was also incorrectly implemented. The now predominantly light-coloured floors constantly show dirt that the chosen dark grey would have covered.
The general attitude of members of the council’s capital works team was that we should be grateful the work was being carried out at all.
However, in our view, residents had been paying among Camden’s highest rents for years to live in a run-down building – one that had even at times become completely unsafe due to its poor security.
In our opinion, this refurbishment was owed to us, and especially to the leaseholders, each of which was told to pay five-figure sums towards the cost.
Since the main contractors left the site in January 2006, there have been issues with the various electrical and mechanical systems that were replaced.
Examples of this include the following: the new communal door entry system has failed on a number of occasions; the brand-new lifts break down regularly; our fire alarm system, which is not monitored by the LFCDA, is completely unreliable to the point where residents now ignore it when it sounds; the ventilation ducts on at least one floor are blocked; gas flues from boilers are incorrectly sized, extinguishing pilot lights. In addition, the roof in one entrance hall leaks.
Although the contractors were at first willing to return to site and deal with snagging issues, the capital works team failed to arrange for these loose ends to be tied. As a result, the original contractors are now refusing to attend, yet Camden’s repairs department will not accept responsibility as they have never received a handover. Residents and caretaking staff are, therefore, left in the middle while council departments play office politics.
In addition, the refurbishment works on our eighth floor communal areas have had to be completely redone by a separate contractor. The windows have, so far, been replaced twice yet are still leaking.
I suspect this is being paid for out of the council’s budget, as once again the capital works team failed to chase the original contractor during the snagging period.
This is a far cry from the wonderful success our refurbishment has been touted as in the council’s literature.
Our leaseholders have taken the council to court to recoup the ridiculous amounts of money they are being forced to pay for the poor standard of work received and, in the meantime, the many outstanding issues are still not being dealt with.
The frustrating conclusion is that all issues could have been resolved by now if only the capital works team had carried out their jobs correctly and ensured that all problems were dealt with.
Unfortunately, it appears they view themselves as greater than the positions they are paid to perform, with one member telling several residents that our building was “after all, only social housing”.
DAVID HULSE
Secretary
Grafton Way Tenants and Residents’ Association
WC1
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
