Residents of a Bermondsey block have compared their conditions to “living in a refugee camp in a war-torn country”, complaining of damp, flooding and leaky pipes as well as an array of alleged anti-social behaviour problems.
Esmeralda Vieira, who asked for her name to be changed for this article, lives in a one-bed socially rented flat in Bourne House on Grange Walk, owned by the housing association Wandle. A Wandle tenant for more than thirty years, she suffers from an array of serious medical conditions, including arthritis, fibromyalgia and heart problems that have seen her hospitalised several times in the past year.
Esmeralda and her daughter Alice, who also asked for her name to be changed, and who has a separate flat in the building, have lived in Bourne House for four years. Over time Esmeralda’s flat has developed serious damp problems that they say Wandle has not dealt with, despite several requests. Wandle says it is aware of the problems and will fix them.
Meanwhile Amin, who lives in the same building with his wife, said that a large pipe carrying an unknown liquid in the basement car park had been leaking on to his car for months in 2019.
Emails from Amin to both Wandle and building managers FirstPort appear to show staff at both companies blaming the problem on each other, leaving Amin in despair. A pipe appears to have become a problem again in recent weeks and FirstPort said they had found a contractor to fix it.
Amin, who is disabled, said: “I have enough things wrong with me that I don’t want to add others.”
As well as problems with the structure of the building, whose flats appear to be spacious, Bourne House is plagued by consistent anti-social behaviour, according to residents.
Pinned to the notice boards in Bourne House on Grange Walk are signs begging fellow residents to stop letting people into the block, adding that “our building is somewhere we should feel safe and secure”. Residents canvassed by the News told stories of fights, attempted arson and loud parties going all through the night, although it was not possible to verify these claims.
Alice said that the alleged anti-social behaviour had got much worse since the first coronavirus lockdown in March 2020.
“Our physical and mental wellbeing has been seriously impacted. My mother’s health has deteriorated, and so has mine.” A doctor’s letter from earlier this year recommends that Alice be moved to a new flat because her living conditions and the behaviour of neighbours was seriously affecting her mental health. Alice has tried to get herself and her mother moved to a different property but has not been successful.
“People seem to have gone berserk, they’re taking too many liberties even though we are still in the midst of a pandemic. They’ve made life under lockdown much more difficult. We have thin walls and floors. There’s no real privacy or tranquility, no good night’s sleep.”
She said she had reported the problems to the housing association but the issues remain unresolved. Wandle say they deal with the problems “robustly”.
Amin said that while Wandle could not be held accountable for the alleged anti-social behaviour itself, they could do more to tackle it. He told a story of a neighbour who was leaving his rubbish in the lift. Amin confronted him about it and the problem stopped.
“You can’t ask for perfect neighbours, but you have to manage the situation properly,” he said. “You have to be proactive.”
A spokesperson for Wandle said they were aware of the damp issues in one of the flats and are working with the resident to resolve this. They also said: “We work closely with FirstPort who look after the communal areas of the block including the car park. All reported issues of antisocial behaviour by our residents have been dealt with robustly. In addition, when FirstPort highlight issues of residents fly tipping in the communal areas we have been quick to respond to these concerns by writing to residents.
“FirstPort are responsible for ensuring any refuse is removed promptly and apart from some very minor exceptions we have found them to be responsive in this area.
“We have arranged to meet FirstPort urgently this week to review the car park leak issue to see what can be done to prevent any further water leaking onto any vehicles and pick up on any other issues that may need addressing.”
A spokesperson for FirstPort said: “We’re sorry to hear of the issues raised by residents at Grange Walk and will always look to work closely with Wandle to address any concerns quickly.
“We were only made aware of the broken pipe on 23rd September 2021 as part of a regular maintenance inspection. We immediately appointed a specialist contractor to investigate the leak and expect a full report and recommendations very shortly, which we will of course share with residents.”