Residents of a Dulwich estate, who say they have been complaining to the council for years about their leaking roof, suffered a downpour last week – with one man having to throw away his bed and carpet.
James Gillespie, resident of Champion Hill estate in Dulwich said he was woken up at 2am to the sound of water and discovered his ceiling was leaking.
“I called the council repair team at 2:08am and was told someone would be out to fix it – but no-one came.”
At 3:37am, he said he called again and they said a contractor had been sent out but ‘couldn’t get in.’
“They said the contractor had been to the third floor and when he couldn’t get access he cancelled the job.”
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James claims he was awake all night, and no contractor came and knocked: “I would have heard it if he did,” he said.
“You feel helpless. I was up all night – why didn’t they come?”
James lives on the second floor and the flooding was bad – but on the fourth floor, which is directly under the roof in question, he said it was “awful.”
He added that he’s been sending in videos of the roof overflow of water “for months.”
James said that this incident is another “perfect example of no communication or accountability from the council.”
Another resident, Karen Fox, said she was woken up by her neighbour about the leak, which “ruined his bed and carpets.”
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“My neighbour got me out of bed at 1.30am regarding a leak coming through his ceiling,” she said.
“He has a bed sit and suffers with mental health issues.
“I called the council out of hours and they said someone would come out in two hours. No-one came so we called them again at 5am and they told us to call the fire brigade. What’s the point of having an out-of-hours number if no-one comes out of hours?”
“At 9am, I called them for him when the council opened and they sent someone out to empty the tank.
“Friday was below freezing and my neighbour had water p*ssing from the ceiling for six hours, which ruined his bed and carpets.”
“It was all soaked. It was like Niagara Falls!”
She said the neighbour has been put into temporary accommodation and the housing officer has said they are ordering him a new bed and mattress, “as well as a dehumidifier to dry out his carpet – which is in the skip,” she added.
“Why do we need to go to these extremes just to get a repair?”
Karen, who has lived on the estate on-and-off for 17 years, said that they’d known about this problem with the roof ‘for years.’
Both said at 9:58am, a contractor from the council’s ‘Leaks from above’ team arrived and found out where the leak was coming from: a tank on the roof. They said they were told the tank was drained.
“We could have avoided six hours of flooding and water damage,” James added.
“I want the council to admit there’s a problem with this roof and there has been for years. It leads to leakages and damp in nearly every property,” Karen said.
Champion Hill residents have been plagued with mould for years – the News reported on the “severe mould” in James’ flat last December, which he claims still hasn’t been sorted out.
They believe it to be linked to the problem with the roof.
A council spokesperson said: “The works were found to be a leaking tank due to a faulty ball valve, and then the overflow, which had been frozen. This was carried out and works repaired on the 16 December.
“All affected properties have appointments for the 6 January to assess the damage and to collate a report for the decorating works.
“Regarding Mr Gillespie’s flat and the damp issues, this is being picked up and escalated to our specialist team which manages damp and mould cases. Any related work would be prioritised.”