Inside the block of flats plagued with leaks so bad it looks like 'the Titanic'

Hackney residents living in a council-run housing block are fed up with reported ongoing leaks that they say are so bad they look like a 'scene from the Titanic'. The tenants claim that leaks and heating problems in the building are causing leaseholders to sell their properties to escape the issues.

David Coleman has lived in 63-162 Fellows Court for 10 years as a council tenant. The 44-year-old said communal areas of the Hoxton block frequently see issues such as youths urinating and damaging the walls. He said the problems have become more pronounced in the past two years since the concierge office in the block had been decommissioned.

Mr Coleman told MyLondon: “Residents pay for the cleaning and to be honest with you, the cleaning is very poor… They don't even come in with a machine. All they do is go around with a bucket.”

He added: “Some rubbish has been here for at least 18 months.”

Leaks damage CCTV cameras

A letter from the council to residents last month noted that the 24/7 concierge office for security had been out of use since December 31, 2023, following a leak that rendered it 'unusable'. It said that since the leak, concierge services have been patrolling the block for five hours every day.

The letter also stated that leaks had damaged several CCTV cameras in the block and a review was being conducted to bring them back into use. It said the CCTV element in service charge bills to residents had been reduced for both the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years. A resident’s service charge bill seen by MyLondon also showed the concierge charge for the block had been reduced by half since December 31, 2023.

Mr Coleman said: "They are saying that the CCTV is working. However, residents have had parcels stolen from the main foyer area."

The tenant said that despite safety concerns, leaks have been the most prevalent issue at the block. A joint letter from residents to the council in January 2024 claimed that the leak that affected the concierge office was so severe it 'looked like a scene from the Titanic'.

Mr Coleman claimed that a cleaners' cupboard in the block had been brought out of use at the start of the year following persistent leaking for over eight months. He said that leaks in residents' flats occurred as often as every two weeks, and tenants often slipped from leaks in communal areas.

He said: "I had a burst radiator on the weekend. I think it's all to do with the lack of maintenance. It was all brown water coming out… This is the colour that's going into people's carpets, wooden flooring, everything."

He added: "I've had three leaks in 12 months. I had the complete living room flooded. I had the pipes in the bedroom and I've just had this one now. Every time I try and redecorate, it's just a never-ending story. I’ve had enough of it."

Water and mould stains can be seen throughout the floors, walls and ceilings in the Fellows Court block from continued leaks originating from corroded pipes, with some issues dating back to over two years ago. Mr Coleman described the building’s foyer as 'grim' and said a light fixture in the area was filled with water for so long that it eventually dried itself out.

The tenant said Hackney Council’s management of the block and communication to residents had been 'poor'. He claimed that the council is not carrying out necessary repairs to Fellows Court within a reasonable timeframe, as it is legally required to as the building's landlord.

Mr Coleman said: "We've got elderly, we've got disabled people, we've got people with mental health issues. There's a load of different people who have got certain needs and to be honest with you, the council is not meeting those needs."

He added: “I know people who have actually sold their properties because they have had enough and they are not even getting the market value."

An email from Mayor of Hackney, Caroline Woodley, sent to Mr Coleman in March last year that was seen by MyLondon appeared to show the Mayor claiming there were no 'quick and easy solutions' to the Fellows Court block due to the scale of the issues.

Rosangela Faria, 57, has lived on the 15th floor of the building for nine years. She said she frequently has issues with hot water and heating in her flat, making it difficult for her to do her dishes and shower.

She told MyLondon: "Imagine you were staying home for three days with no heating in the cold weather. Last week, I didn’t have hot water since Thursday. On Monday, I called the council and the water came back on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the hot water was gone again."

Chris Daley, 40, has been in the building since 2009, living in a flat above the external communal boiler for the block. He said a lack of isolation valves meant that leaks in one flat could lead to the water for an entire column of the building being shut off. He said that if he complains to the council about there being no heating or hot water in his flat, it often leads to his neighbours losing access to theirs as a result.

Mr Daley told MyLondon: "The concern, outside of the obvious construction of this place, is that residents are feeling almost like they're attacking each other. My neighbour has two children with special needs. If I have heating and hot water and I know it's at the expense of her, what do I do?"

The council tenant added that the sound of the communal boiler is so loud when it is switched on that he and his neighbours can feel it in their homes. He said his concerns have not been satisfactorily resolved by the council as an officer was sent to measure the noise from the boiler using only his ears.

Mr Daley said: "I've been complaining about the whole of my flat vibrating at night so I can’t sleep. I'm being woken up in the middle of the night at 2am or 3am because my whole flat is shaking."

He added: "I don't want to mooch off the council. I just want somewhere where I can sleep, stay warm and do what everybody else pays for and be the same as everybody else. But they keep doing this thing where they delay you, offer you a really small amount of compensation and then close your complaint and do nothing."

A letter from Hackney Council to residents of 63 - 162 Fellow Court last month seen by MyLondon said the authority was exploring solutions to reduce noise from the boiler. It added that the volume of the boiler is about 60 dB at its source and a silencer had been fitted to reduce the noise.

He said: "They just won't come and see any issue you report for six months minimum, then they will send someone over. I got decanted out of my property into a hotel for three months this summer because my whole flat flooded for a second time. The first time they didn’t even help me. I came back in and they had redecorated the place in the lowest possible quality and just got every single thing wrong and it started leaking again."

He added: "Every single person says something bad is going to happen here and I don’t want that on my conscience. It may not be me, I’m on the first floor, but we've got so many issues in the building. We need support and we all pay for the services that we’re not getting."

'Some of the issues are taking longer than we hoped'

Kain Roach, Operations Director at Hackney Council, told MyLondon that the authority was aware of the issues at Fellows Court and had informed residents that it was doing all it could to fix the problems they have raised. He said some of the core issues leading to the problems they are facing would take time to fix.

He said: "We fully understand the concerns they are raising, how frustrating it is and the impact it is having on their quality of life. We want to reassure them they are not being ignored. Unfortunately, some of the issues are taking longer than we hoped."

He added: "For example, we need to replace the entire communal heating system, including all the pipework, and residents are aware of this. This takes extensive planning and time."

Mr Roach said the authority recognised the high number of leaks from the heating system pipework, but stated that any suggestions the council was not dealing with leaks as they occur was untrue. He said the authority was making every effort to carry out preventative works where possible to try and minimise the impact that the leaks had until the system was replaced.

He added: "While we are working hard to fix the issues residents are facing, we do accept that we may not have communicated with residents as often as we potentially should have. We will be writing to them as soon as possible to update them on the work we are undertaking."

Have a story you want to share? Email joseph.coughlan@reachplc.com.

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