News

Jan 16, 2024

The West London estate with so many leaks ceilings keep collapsing and residents spend hours every day cleaning away mould

Residents living on the Churchill Gardens Estate say they are constantly

Residents living on the Churchill Gardens Estate say they are constantly battling with leaks and damage they cause

Get FREE email updates for West London

We have more newsletters

Residents in a West London estate say they are living in homes where leaks cause ceilings to collapse and they spend hours every day cleaning away mould. Churchill Gardens Estate in Pimlico may look like your ordinary old London development but under the surface tenants and the council are racing against time to stop leaks flooding it.

The brainchild of architects Powell and Moya, Churchill Gardens Estate was built between 1946 and 1962 and is home to thousands of families. The 32-block behemoth is renowned for its slick and smart design where buildings are broken up by communal greens and two schools.

The nearest Tube station is just a stone's throw away. But this architectural gem needs a makeover after a series of leaks led to flats being flooded out and covered in mould.

READ MORE: Mum and 4 kids stuck in tiny London flat so crowded son 'threatens to jump out of window'

One resident in Littleton House, which is made up of leaseholders and council tenants, said the leak in her flat got so bad that it led to the ceiling of the post office below to cave in. The woman - who wishes not to be named - said she and the neighbour above her share the same plumbing, which had clogged up.

She told the BBC 's Local Democracy Reporting Service: "My sink has been leaking. I have reported it many times." According to the Post Office, the shop on Lupus Street was closed for four days in January for repairs, which it claims was caused by heavy rains and a leak in the ceiling.

One leaseholder said her apartment had been flooded three times with the latest occurring over Christmas because of a leak in her roof and claimed it took "weeks to fix". She said: "It kept getting worse and worse and then someone would be sent out and they say one thing but then someone else comes out and finds another issue. By the time they figure out what the problem is, it's already too late, there's already been enough damage done."

As a private tenant, she had to pay out £100 in insurance claims to get contractors in to fix it. Esther Ward has lived on the estate with her husband, her two daughters and grandchildren for 33 years.

A block in her bathroom meant she was no longer able to use her bathtub, which she relies on to treat her severe osteoarthritis. She said she was on the phone "day in day out for weeks and weeks" with the authorities to get it fixed. She claimed that contractors who repaired the issues bailed without replacing the flooring they removed.

Cllr Liza Begum, who leads the council's housing portfolio, said the new Labour administration was well aware of the issues and was determined to get them fixed. They’ve set up a tenants’ panel which meets monthly with the council to discuss issues on the estate and they’re working on plans to repair the Pimlico District Heating Undertaking (PDHU) - which many residents are claiming are causing the leaks. They’re also in constant contact with the estate's contractors, Morgan Sindall, to get these issues resolved.

Cllr Begum said: "First of all, one of the things we want to do is ensure the residents have named housing officers that they can turn to, and we need to ensure our services are a lot more accessible. So whether it's issues with their rent or repairs, they should be able to go to a named person and get help."

She said her colleagues inbox is" full of issues that people are going through". She said: "Sometimes it would be a small repair issue that's taken such a long time to solve and I can see how it can affect residents. And that's why we’ve got a huge challenge ahead of us. Housing is one of the largest portfolios and it affects all residents. We recognise the challenges and we want to ensure that we can change the processes to help people."

She said her administration wants to create a "city-wide" tenants' panel so that renters across the capital can access immediate help from their local authority.

Cllr Begum said: "When it comes to housing, one of our biggest problems is repairs. I don't think that's just an acute problem in Westminster, when you see activists like Kwajo [Tweneboa], you see that it's an issue across the board. That's a service we want up and running and working for residents. It's a big priority for me."

But for some in Churchill Gardens Estate, this has come all too late.

One tenant in Erskine House claims she spends four hours a day cleaning mould from her kitchen and living room. She says if she doesn't then the whole household gets sick - something she's claimed to have relayed to the council since 2011.

The single mum told us: "No matter what I do it comes back again and again. And because I have a young child, I need to clean this constantly. I’m worried about what he will breathe.

"Mentally and emotionally I am tired. I am worried about my safety and the safety of my son. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night to see how he is breathing. I have panic attacks every week, I’m just constantly worrying if he is ok."

A spokesperson for Westminster Council said: "We want residents to know that we are on hand to help. That's why we’ve been visiting homes on our estates and speaking to people to gather their feedback and improve our response. Our teams work hard to complete the vast majority of repairs on time and to a high standard.

"Unfortunately, there are some complex cases which require more significant work. We understand that any delays can cause distress and the council does everything it can to provide support during longer term building work."

Have you experienced housing problems in West London? Please get in touch at [email protected]

Want more from MyLondon? Sign up to our daily newsletters for all the latest and greatest from across London here.

READ MORE:

London mum and three kids stuck in flat so mouldy and infested with mice daughter, 5, is being treated for anxiety

London family of 4 'split up and forced to live in separate flats' as there 'isn't enough space' for autistic son

Dad's urgent warning after finding dangerous white mould in his attic causing son to sneeze and cough