Tottenham estate 'turning to trash' through council's neglect

Mould, ant infestations, “unsafe” garages and walls and dodgy gas pipes among the issues residents have complained about, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

A Tottenham housing estate is “turning to trash” because Haringey Council has failed to fix a string of problems, residents have warned.

People living in Baldewyne Court, Lansdowne Road, have complained of mould, ant infestations, “unsafe” garages and walls, antisocial behaviour and gas pipes that are not properly fixed to the walls.

Some of the problems have been going on for two years or more – but despite repeated complaints to the council, they say they have not been addressed.

It comes as the council faces increasing pressure to improve its housing services following an investigation by the Housing Ombudsman for “persistent poor performance over damp and mould complaints” and findings by the Regulator of Social Housing that thousands of tenants were put at potential risk by a litany of health and safety failures.

Stephanie Ernestine, who has lived on the estate for 18 years, said she had been left angry and frustrated by the council’s failure to tackle the problems.

“We want to live in a place where we look after it,” she said. “When Covid hit, we would go outside and litter-pick, make sure the garden was welcoming. I started gardening and growing some vegetables.

“The way it is now, nobody wants to – it is turning to trash.”

Stephanie said the gutters on the blocks had “become totally ineffective due to lack of maintenance”, with small bushes growing out of them in some places, end caps missing, and joints and pipes unconnected.

This means rainwater gushes over the side of the gutters and down the walls of homes, which residents think is causing the damp and mould problems.

Stephanie said her property had developed mould during the past two years, and it is now appearing “all around the house”. Her three-year-old daughter has recently been coughing, and Stephanie believes she is “getting some sort of chest infection” from it.

An ant infestation has also affected the block for two years, Stephanie added. “These are not normal ants – they are pharaoh ants,” she said. “They carry strep A. I have a three-year-old and I’m very concerned – her hands are always on the floor.

“We can’t leave food out, and no-one wants to come to the house when there are ants on the sofa.”

Stephanie said her house was treated but the ants came back because they are in other properties. “The whole estate needs to be treated,” she explained.

Residents have also complained about garages they say are “structurally unsafe” with “asbestos roof sheets left to blow around in the wind”. They warned that the back wall of the garages is at risk of collapse on to the public pavement in strong winds, but the issue has been “ignored for well over twelve months”.

Another safety concern is gas pipelines that residents have warned are not fastened to the walls properly and “in some cases are not secure at all”. Some run to the second floor, which has led to the “full weight of the pipework putting pressure on one soldered joint at the bottom”. They say this “needs to be addressed urgently as it does not meet gas safety regulations”.

Stephanie said residents had complained about “constant antisocial behaviour” that has been going on for more than a year, but the council had done nothing to stop it.

They have also called for a skip that is taking up two car parking spaces on the estate to be removed. She said the “constant collection and delivery” of skips had led to damage to the outer wall of the estate, which “is already at risk of collapse due to storm damage to the garages next to it”.

Stephanie said the residents recently called for the issues to be addressed urgently but “received a vague and somewhat unprofessional response”.

She also criticised the council’s complaints process. She said she and other residents normally complain to the block manager, and she only recently found out how to make a “stage two complaint”, which is the next step when initial problems are not dealt with properly.

Stephanie said her stage two complaint is “bouncing back” because the council says it can’t find the stage one complaints.

Sarah Williams, the council’s cabinet member for housing services, private renters and planning, said: “We fully understand and appreciate the concerns expressed by residents. We take this extremely seriously and have made it a priority to address many of the issues, including fixing the gas pipes and addressing the ant infestation.

“A full inspection will take place around the damp and mould, while antisocial behaviour around the block will simply not be tolerated and our enforcement officers have already made several visits to the property.

“Rest assured, we are fully committed to significant improvements in our housing services, and we will be investing £5million on our far-reaching housing improvement plan to ensure homes are safe and well maintained.

“Key amongst the changes will be a complete overhaul of the repairs service so that tenants do not have to wait long periods for issues to be resolved and we can provide a high-quality service that our residents deserve.”

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