Hackney Council tenant sleeps in living room due to leaks

Joe Young, a Hackney Council tenant at Pitcairn House, first experienced water coming through his bedroom ceiling about 15 years ago.

Since then, the leak has occurred repeatedly, making the room virtually uninhabitable.

Joe has no choice but to sleep on an air mattress in his living room or stay at a friend's house.

The inflatable bed in Joe's living room – his bedroom has been suffering from leaks for 15 years (Image: Newsquest)

Four years ago, a new leak also destroyed the social tenant's bathroom. To this day, black mold can be seen on the ceiling, which is partially supported with a plastic squeegee.

Joe, who moved into the nine-storey block 25 years ago, said that despite the unresolved issues, he had never missed a rent payment, fearing it would mean losing his home.

Joe has to use a mop to partially support his bathroom ceiling (Image: Newsquest)

He told Hackney Gazette: “Year after year people came to me.

“I'm not the type to complain and I prefer to keep to myself, but you can't live like that. I can't even offer the apartment for exchange at the moment.

“The leak keeps coming back in the same place. They let me move out, tape over the cracks, let me move in and then you pay the rent and that's your problem.

“I'm so frustrated. I would do it myself, but why paint it if it's going to come through again?”

Joe said his bedroom had been suffering from leaks for 15 years (Image: Newsquest)

Hackney Council said Joe was denied access to his home for repairs, which he strongly denies.

Joe admits that the council had accused him of obstructing the work of contractors previously sent to look into some of the problems.

However, he claimed that the city council was using this as an excuse to make no progress at all on the repairs.

While acknowledging that work had to be carried out at the home, a Hackney spokesman said the agency takes “the safety of all our staff extremely seriously” and cannot place officers “in a situation where they are at risk of being threatened, abused or attacked”.

They added: “We will continue to seek to work with Mr Young to complete the work while protecting our employees.”