A major refurbishment of a Bermondsey block went £1.3 million over budget and two years over schedule amid claims some of the work was unnecessary.
Furious Arica House residents say Southwark Council has ignored calls for an independent inquiry and treated concerned residents “like children”.
Southwark’s Liberal Democrat opposition said it was “appalling” to see another major works debacle – highlighting the cases of the Canada and Devon Mansions estates – and demanded “real accountability” for residents.
The project, named Arica House Phase 2, was a landmark revamp of the 1960s Slippers Estate block.
But after estimating it would cost £1,438,771 council spending sky-rocketed to £2,822,387.
Meanwhile, residents say the scheduled November 2019 completion date was delayed until November 2021.
They have claimed perfectly good tiles and floors were replaced with inferior versions while “shambolic” paint jobs, and hard-to-clean flooring quickly gathered grime and skid marks.
John Dickson, an Arica House resident, said: “The internal painting of the block is a complete shambles…The brickwork was time-consuming and an absolute nightmare.”
He added: “They treated residents like we were children.”
Another leaseholder said: “There was a feeling that Southwark lost control of the project.”
Residents have said the delayed works left them encased in a “prison of scaffolding” for around six years while heritage Crittall windows were replaced with poor alternatives.
Louvre vents installed above the windows – used so smoke can escape during a fire – have quickly gathered dust and dirt whereas previous iterations had been clean, residents said.
Contractors also painted external balconies before inexplicably painting them again, they claimed.
Mr Dickson, a leaseholder, said his estimated bill of £7,500 had already soared to £17,500 with further increases expected.
He said: “I’ve been paying £355 a month for four years. It’s tantamount to a small mortgage. I’m exhausted.”
Delays and overspends on the Devon Mansions and Canada estates have already forced the council to conduct fraud investigations and apologise for a “litany of mistakes”.
The works went a combined £6 million over budget and more than three years over schedule. Internal audits are ongoing to establish what went wrong.
In 2021, Arica House residents wrote to Southwark Council demanding an independent inquiry into the works.
But in a response sent to residents, seen by this paper, Southwark Council admitted some things had gone wrong but stopped short of agreeing to investigate.
In a response to residents, a council officer admitted that starting the works before a design solution had been found to ‘known’ structural problems ‘contributed to delays’. They also said balconies shouldn’t have been repainted twice.
But the officer’s response also said the team did ‘not believe the works were poorly executed’.
They added that windows were due for renewal, that tile replacement was necessary and that Covid-19 had caused delays.
Liberal Democrat Cllr Rachel Bentley said: “It is appalling but unsurprising to see yet another major works scandal in Southwark. Kirby Estate, Canada Estate, Devon Mansions and now Arica House.
“It seems, after years of chronic mismanagement, Southwark Labour’s chickens are coming home to roost. The council will no doubt be forced into yet more apologies, but residents deserve real accountability not empty words. These are people’s homes and money that the council seems to have had no regard for.”
Contractor UK Gunite was on site for Phase 1 of the works in spring 2016.
But soon after works began, a structural survey found brickwork repairs were needed before windows could be replaced.
Residents claim they warned Southwark Council about the structural problem at meetings before the works began but were ignored.
A resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “We were treated like we were irritating and we should leave it to our ‘betters’ that ‘know more’.”
Southwark Council employed Saltash to undertake Phase 2 works which included brickwork repairs and window replacements and began in February 2019.
Calfordseaden was the lead design and cost management quantity surveyor employed by Southwark Council.
Southwark Council did not respond to requests for comment.
Saltash, UK Gunite and Calfordseaden were also approached for comment.