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Why punish our block?
• WE are delighted leaseholders in Grafton Way, Fitzrovia, won their court battle over charges for works now shown to have been completely sub-standard.
Since the tribunal victory, it appears the Town Hall’s attitude towards residents has gone from bad to worse and the building’s maintenance is being increasingly ignored.
For most of the past six months, residents on the first floor have been without hot water. Despite raising this to a second-level complaint, many households still do not have a reliable supply. The failures have been logged repeatedly, although in many cases staff in the repairs call centre have not logged instances as new calls, leading to more delay.
All residents are being subjected to complete shutdowns of the shared hot water system at least once a week, and still the problem is not resolved. In our desperation we have asked for the help of councillors but as yet received scant response. It appears even their appeals are falling on deaf ears.
Caretaking in the building is practically non-existent. Communal areas are rarely cleaned and never cleaned properly. Rubbish frequently piles high in the chute room on each floor. This has led to an infestation of cockroaches.
The refurbished lifts are neither serviced nor managed properly and as a result break down frequently, with the fire brigade regularly being called to rescue trapped residents. Both main entrances to the building have been vandalised and one of the doors has a broken locking mechanism. Since the tribunal victory many residents have been told not to expect any money to be spent on the building. We suspect the lack of response or urgency from the council could be down to some new petty prejudice against our block.
IAM MCDOWELL
Grafton Way, WC1
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