A ceiling has collapsed, leaks are “constant” and mould is endemic in an Elephant and Castle block built just fourteen years ago, residents claim.
One single mum-of-two claims flooding meant heaps of rubble collapsed on her yet housing association L&Q “did nothing” to repair it for months.
Meanwhile, a father-of-two said his family went without hot water for almost three years – forcing them to wash using kettles and shower at his workplace.
Multiple Wardroper House tenants have been, or remain, housed in temporary accommodation while L&Q conducts repairs.
Southwark Council and local Liberal Democrat Councillor Maria Linforth-Hall have asked the housing association to “urgently” address the situation.
L&Q’s Director of Major Programmes apologised to residents and said the company was “working hard to put things right as soon as possible”.
Wardroper resident, Sheena, 37, who works as a nurse while caring for her two children said: “When you get thrown into a place that is social housing, it almost feels like: ‘You get what you’re given, beggars can’t be choosers’. That’s how you’re made to feel.
“But we’re just human beings working and trying to make a living as well. Surely we should have the same respect as someone who has a mortgage? There’s no difference. We’re all families.”
Southwark Council chose L&Q to deliver Wardroper House in 2010 with all its fifteen flats being let at social rent.
It is one of the so-called ‘early housing’ schemes built to compensate for the homes lost from the Heygate – a 1,212-flat council estate demolished between 2011 and 2014.
Wardroper House promised tenants “airy, comfortable” flats that addressed the “urgent need for affordable housing”.
Ed, 55, a tenant who lives with his wife and two young children, still remembers the day they moved in.
“It was great because previously we lived in a tiny little flat just off Southwark Park Road,” he said.
“The reason we did move was because at the time we had an older child and we had another baby coming.”
But Ed says just two years later “we started experiencing a lack of hot water and heating which went on for seven years”.
David Charles, 53, who lives with his wife and two children aged thirteen and six, remembers things similarly.
“We had no heating for nearly three years and not hot water for just over two years around 2012,” he said.
During that time, his family would wash using kettles during the week and come into his work for a proper shower during weekends.
David said: ”I was trying to hide it from people at work because it’s embarrassing. I couldn’t say to them I’m living in a place and can’t provide heating and hot water for my family.”
Francesca (not her real name), who’s now in temporary accommodation, claims she’s had no heating since 2010, forcing the family to shell out on electric heaters.
But nowadays, residents say heating and hot water outages are just one of many problems including mould and leaks.
A mother-of-two, Francesca said a leak got so bad the ceiling collapsed on her while she was in her children’s bedroom.
She claims she’d warned L&Q that the collapse was imminent but the housing association had done nothing.
She said: “I was left with rubble all over the floor for over two months and nobody did nothing.
“Every time it rains I still have that anxiety. I don’t see it as my home and I don’t want to go back there. We’re traumatised because of what happened.”
Chellen Webber, 43 said leaks have at times got so bad that it’s been “like walking through a waterfall”.
Many tenants said water had dripped through light fixtures – wiping out their electricity.
Francesca also claims she and her two children went without any light, except one in the living room, for almost two years.
Mother-of-two Kelly Jones, 40, can only cook in daylight hours because most of her lights are broken and said mould growth has made her family’s breathing “a mess”.
Residents believe leaks may be the cause of damp and mould which they say is growing by the day.
Agnes Mensah, a 63-year-old support worker, said: “I’ve been to my GP several times.”
“Before I thought it was the weather but I realised it was the mould in the bedroom that started it, because every time I went in my bedroom I was coughing.”
Many of the tenants we spoke to were currently or had been in temporary accommodation.
Sheena was decanted from her flat in September so L&Q could repair leaks in her flat.
Four months later, and still in temporary housing, she said: “I’m a nurse, I’m working. I need to find out my schedule so I know I’ll be in a house, that I’ll have a roof over my head.
“I do agency work as well so I wasn’t able to do some of my work placements because I simply didn’t know where I’d be from one place to the next.”
Francesca, whose children’s bedroom collapsed in August, is also in temporary accommodation.
“We’re currently living in boxes because we don’t know what’s going to happen next,” she said.
Even those who haven’t suffered the disruption of temporary accommodation say they’ve suffered health problems which they believe have been caused by their housing situation.
Agnes says she has panic attacks and Chellen says her blood pressure got so high a blood vessel in her eyeball burst.
Agnes says she has panic attacks and Chellen says her blood pressure got so high a blood vessel in her eyeball burst.
Agnes said: “When I get home I can’t relax at all. Most time it makes my work harder.”
Every tenant we spoke to said L&Q’s communication had been inadequate, with emails and phone calls usually going ignored.
Edward described a feeling of “abandonment”, of being ignored and undermined”.
Sheena said: “Their communication is terrible. I am just literally tired of trying to contact them.”
Cllr Helen Dennis, Cabinet Member for New Homes & Sustainable Development, said: “We were very sorry to learn about the issues facing L&Q’s tenants and will do what we can to help them.
“We will be writing to L&Q to ask them to look into the situation urgently and fully support their tenants while these issues are resolved.”
Cllr Maria Linforth-Hall said: “I am appalled at the way residents have been treated, and at the conditions in which they have been living since 2019.
“L&Q has no respect for its tenants. The extensive damp and mould is putting tenants’ health at risk.
“They must, as a matter of absolute urgency, move people to safer accommodation and undertake comprehensive repairs to the building.
“The Southwark Liberal Democrats will be calling on the council to help us make sure this happens as soon as possible.”
Mark Newstead, Director of Major Programmes at L&Q, said, ‘We’re sorry for the disruption and inconvenience experienced by residents at Wardroper House. We are working hard to put things right as soon as possible.
“We carried out a thorough investigation into the leaks and water damage to the property, which was caused by a defect we identified in the roof.
“We are in the process of replacing the roof to fix this, and work is expected to be completed in mid-February.
“Residents who were temporarily rehoused have had full refurbishment works completed in their homes and have either returned or are due to return imminently.
“We wrote to residents in October and asked them to report any concerns about leaks or damage to their homes due to the roof defect.
“Our contractors have carried out repairs in a number of homes as a result of resident feedback and remain on site and fully committed to addressing any outstanding works as soon as possible. “We have experienced some difficulties with access to residents’ homes and continue to encourage them to engage with us so we can rectify any outstanding issues.”