Fellows Court tenants angry at Hackney Council over leaks

According to long-term residents, the problems at 63-162 Fellows Court have been persistently left unresolved by landlord Hackney Council.

This includes damage to the concierge office, which was flooded at the end of December and has still not been repaired.

According to residents, this is one of numerous leaks that repeatedly occur in the common areas of the building, especially on the ground floor near the elevators.

The common area on the ground floor near the elevators is plagued by a persistent leak (Image: Newsquest)

Alessandro de Faria, who has lived in the building with his wife for eight years, claimed that the elevator leak had been present for over a year.

He said: “It's ridiculous. Nobody cares about Fellows Court. People don't even complain anymore because they don't believe in the council.”

Other problems included the heating, which reportedly failed several times last winter, non-functioning elevators and the smell of urine in common areas, he added.

Alessandro, who lives on the 15th floor, said: “Sometimes I come back from work at midnight and both elevators are not working. What happens to old people?

“It smells of urine and now we don’t have a concierge office – it’s not safe.

“Nobody lives here for free. We all pay rent, but the city administration doesn’t repair anything.”

Hackney Council admitted there had been “a few instances” of lifts not working last year, but claimed they were “repaired and back up and running the same day”.

The authority added that it has plans to permanently replace the current heating system, but admitted that this is “unlikely” to happen this year. A temporary boiler has been installed in the meantime.

A makeshift boiler stands in front of Fellows Court (Image: Newsquest)

David Coleman, another tenant in the block, said the lack of security following the damage to the concierge office had led to anti-social behaviour becoming more common.

He added that residents still pay for full-time security during the day, even though patrols appear to only occur once a week.

Hackney Council has denied this, claiming that the patrols are “regular” and that the building is monitored via its central CCTV patrol room.

Residents who spoke with Hackney Gazette also expressed his disappointment that the city council was planning to build a brand new block next to Fellows Court.

Mr Coleman explained: “There is a concern that once the new block is built we will no longer have sunlight.

“And the council does this when it has to spend money on its existing stock.

“You can see in all this the tension of the people who live here.”

David Coleman said there was obvious “tension” in the block due to the ongoing state of disrepair. (Image: Newsquest)

Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, who has visited the block several times since January, said she was “aware of the impact the serious dilapidation problems are having on the lives of local residents”.

However, she added that there are “no quick fixes” and that the city council has “no additional money for the necessary refurbishment of Fellows Court” due to government funding cuts.

Steve Waddington, strategic director for housing at Hackney Council, said: “As part of our efforts to improve our service, we have now committed to attending all leak reports by the end of the next day.

“I would urge anyone who has a leak to call our repair contact centre on 020 8356 3691 so we can investigate the incident.

“I also want to make it very clear that building much-needed new social housing and maintaining the housing we already have are equally important and that the cost of building new housing cannot be covered by the funds available for improvements.”