Wandsworth social housing block residents warn of 'death trap' conditions

The block's managers have reassured residents that Clyde House, Putney, is safe and secure. A2Dominion, which manage the block, has had to move some residents to temporary accommodation to conduct repairs and has covered costs and expenses incurred by residents from the incidents.

Clyde House is a block of social housing, with 62 flats over eight floors, built as part of a private housing development. Some of the properties are reserved for people with special needs.

Exposed pipes in the block © Shevonne Will/Twitter.

Residents claim Clyde House, which was developed by Barratt Homes, was constructed with shoddy materials, and that the surrounding blocks were better built and have been properly maintained.

“The other blocks look identical to ours, but we’re treated like second-class citizens,” said Shevonne Will, who wrote about the block in a Twitter thread last week.

"There are buckets of water in electrical cupboards. It is a disaster waiting to happen. We are terrified of being the next Grenfell. We do not trust A2DominionGroup."

Mother of two, Sabiha Aziz, a resident in the block said: "I have lived in Clyde House almost six years now. A2Dominion have not done anything about it or given us any attention.

Residents have been living in these conditions for almost five years now © Shevonne Will/Twitter

"Residents want to get their voices heard, I was in a hotel from Thursday last week. Then I was in a different room, then a different hotel. I finally got my home back yesterday but left my kids with my mum over the weekend because they were so upset about the living situation.

"There is a woman in her 80s who is bed bound and lives on the top floor. She has medical equipment in her room and needs a carer. A2Dominion gave people the option to move to a hotel while they fixed the problems but how can they ask a woman who is bed bound to move?

"How is this caring for someone, she had no heating for a few days last week and her carer had to boil water in a kettle to keep her warm. This has been going on for almost five years now and it's really disgusting."

Damp and mould caused by the flooding © Shevonne Will/Twitter

Residents gathered at a meeting on Wednesday, February 20. 

Justine Greening, the Conservative MP for the area, who raised the issue in parliament last week, said A2Dominion's plans to fix the problems so far have been "disgraceful".

She said: “I’m holding my third residents’ meeting so we can finally get an action plan from A2Dominion about how they are going to resolve the issues that have been making peoples’ lives a misery and the very real safety concerns residents have about their homes.

"A2Dominion’s inaction on fixing these problems so far has been disgraceful. In the meantime, residents should be moved into proper adequate accommodation.”

Residents in Clyde House are tired of living in such a 'disgusting' block and are fighting back © Shevonne Will/Twitter

Thamesfield ward councillor John Locker said: “Clyde House residents have been badly let down. A2Dominion’s Directors urgently need to provide details of their plans to resolve the problems.

"I urge them to work with residents, our MP Justine Greening, and local Councillors so we can get things fixed once and for all.”

Tooting Ward Labour councillor Paul White said: "The residents of Clyde House do not want their home to be the next Grenfell Tower, they have had enough of being ignored and the appalling conditions of dangerous electric wiring, leaks, burst pipes, damp and mould that have remained unchecked for 6 years, need to be addressed now."

Residents have been living in these conditions for almost five years now © Shevonne Will/Twitter

David Lingeman, A2Dominion's Director of Property Services, said: "As previously agreed, we made ourselves available to meet with residents of Clyde House and their representatives to address their concerns and reassure them that we are doing everything we can to support them throughout this situation.

"We have advised that the primary heat network has now been repaired and restored, including related water leaks. This means that hot water and heating is now available to all residents is being tested by engineers to ensure that it is fully recommissioned within each flat.

"We would like to reassure our residents that Clyde House is safe and secure. An independent building surveyor has confirmed that they "did not observe any defects or damage that would suggest the building is suffering from any significant structural failure at this point in time". We are currently carrying out a new programme of electrical tests to all flats as an additional assurance.

Residents at a meeting with A2Dominion on Wednesday, February 21. © Paul White/Twitter

"We have also commissioned a schedule of remedial works to address the remaining work and ongoing issue with the lifts. This has now been shared with residents and we are seeking to ensure Clyde House provides homes that residents can feel proud of.

"We do recognise that our handling of these issues has not been to the standards we expect of ourselves and we apologise for the inconvenience caused.

"We are reviewing what we could have done differently in the way we have worked with to address our residents' concerns prior to them feeling that there was no other option than to escalate matters further.

"Again, we regret that the issues have not been resolved sooner and we will continue to monitor the improvement works closely and support the needs of our residents."