East London tower block residents hit out at 'slum-like' living conditions after water shortage

Yahoo

a day ago

East London tower block residents have described their flats as 'the slums of tomorrow' after being left with a string of maintenance issues including no access to running water during last week's heatwave.
Four blocks in the Tower Hamlets based Sutton Wharf development were left with no running water for 15 hours during London's fourth heatwave of the year which saw the city reach sweltering temperatures of up to 27C, residents said.
Water in the Graphite Point building stopped working at around 1am on Wednesday morning and was restored by 4pm that day, it has been claimed.
Residents claimed no clear communication or alternative sources of water were provided by the housing association Guinness Partnership, who manage the development, in the 15 hours they were left without running water.
The Guinness Partnership deny these claims, saying they contacted all residents to say on site contractors would hand out water to any residents.
Phil Stone, 68, who has owned and lived in his Sutton Wharf flat since 2016 said: 'We've really had nothing but problems over the last ten years.
'The latest of which is we don't have any water at all – toilets don't flush, showers don't work, we have no running water in the flat and that problem applies to the whole development of around 300 homes.'
His three-bedroom flat which cost over £820,000 in the Graphite Point building is one of four blocks in the development.
These complaints come after the Guinness Partnership recently came under fire from residents in Leaside Lock, a mixed-use private and social housing development also located in Tower Hamlets, who complained of the unbearably sweltering temperatures in their flats and warned others not to buy in the development.
Mr Stone claimed Guinness properties are creating east London's 'slums of tomorrow.'
He said: 'Guinness has put no effort into wanting people to remain as residents here,' and that he feels 'trapped' in his home, saying he is unable to sell it due to the building having previously failed fire safety regulations.
The Guinness Partnership deny this claim and told the Standard any resident who wants to sell is provided with a Landlord Relief Letter enabling sale pending issue of EWS1 forms.
The fire safety failure in Graphite Point occurred after regulations on cladding changed in 2023, following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 in which 72 people lost their lives.
When new regulations were enforced, the cladding on Graphite Point was removed. Several residents said this made living in the block feel like a 'building site.'
The cladding removal across all four blocks is a gradual multi-year project which started in February 2023 and is set to finish in March 2026.
Mr Stone said during the project every brick in Graphite Point had to be replaced after it was discovered that they had been laid upside down by the original developer to save cement, which if left would cause structural issues including bricks coming loose within 15 years.
A spokesperson for The Guinness Partnership said the housing association purchased the four blocks from external developers and that they did not build them. Guinness is currently working to remediate the cladding and any other building defects.
In the last 10 years of owning his flat, Mr Stone said he has experienced a string of maintenance issues including his front fire door being breached by incorrect drilling in 2018 which was contracted by the Guinness Partnership, multiple failures of the ventilation systems which facilitates airflow throughout the building and security issues including the front doors and gates failing to work on several occasions.
A Guinness spokesperson said: 'We carry out inspection of fire doors, including flat front doors, in line with the requirements of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022.'
Mr Stone said he has lodged over 15 formal complaints to the Guinness Partnership but does not feel they are ever taken seriously or resolved.
Ninth floor Graphite Point residents Jack Jacob, 30, and Will Tyrrell, 30, similarly said they received no communication or alternative sources of water from Guinness during the water shortage last week.
Mr Jacob, who works as a product manager, said: 'This has disrupted my whole day.'
Mr Tyrrell, a medical researcher, said: 'I'm a healthy, able-bodied thirty-year-old male, this hasn't really affected me and I don't really think about if I'm safe. But if I were a more vulnerable person, like someone with disabilities or a young child, this would affect me more.'
He said he also had the water to his bathrooms cut off for a number of weeks in June. A spokesperson for the Guinness Partnership confirmed two cisterns were out of service for three weeks and apologised to residents for the inconvenience.
The renters said when they first moved into their flat their fire alarm was disconnected for a week and one of their windows was incorrectly fitted which was not resolved for over three months.
Guinness told the Standard the renters are not their tenants and that they are expected to have raised issues with their landlord at the time who would have taken responsibility for the problems.
Other Graphite Point residents, including 25-year-old Abby who works in charity events and 37-year-old Lisa who works as a business development director, said they had no communication from Guinness about the water shortage or alternative water supplies.
In a statement to the Standard, the Guinness Partnership said they strongly rejected claims that the towers are future 'slums'.
A spokesperson said: "We are sorry that not all residents have always had a good experience. Over the last six years, we have received 101 complaints from residents across the 267 homes at Suttons Wharf, an average of 16/17 a year (not all of which are about services which we are responsible for providing).
'It is correct that there is one resident who has lodged over 15 formal complaints. We take all complaints seriously and have done our very best to respond to his concerns.
'We are investing over £40 million to significantly improve the buildings including remediating issues in the developer's original construction.
'We are also upgrading the communal areas in each building, as we complete remediation works to each block. This reflects our commitment to both the safety and the attractiveness of the scheme.
'Guinness did not build these properties, we purchased them from the developer. Any deficiencies in the brickwork are being addressed as we are replacing all bricks as part of our remediation works.
'Frequently used communal elements of a building will malfunction or break from time to time. '
The Guinness Partnership said when the water in Graphite Point stopped working: 'We contacted all residents on the morning of 13 August and again in the early afternoon of 13 August.
'There have been ten incidents of electrical, heating or hot water issues over the last two years – affecting some residents, but not all residents (or all buildings). Four of these were resolved the same day, the remainder were resolved within 48 hours.
'We have made improvements to the pumps on the site to improve the system, and have additional works planned which should further enhance this.'
A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets Council said the council does not have any involvement with the development.
Thames Water have been contacted for comment about the water supply.