Our loft could come down on us, resident fears

A partially collapsed ceiling of an apartment block in south-west London has not been fixed for more than a month, according to residents.

The large hole appeared over the stairs of the communal building on Stuart Road in Ham, Richmond, and has not been repaired since the incident on 26 September.

Brenda Gleeson, 84, one of the residents in the block said she feared for her safety, adding: “There’s our loft there right beside it. Our loft could be drenched… that could all come down on top of us.”

Housing association Richmond Housing Partnership (RHP) said the hole had been made safe and was working with residents to agree a date for the remainder of the works to be carried out.

The property houses elderly occupants, including a 99-year-old woman, on the top floor close to the caved ceiling.

Ms Gleeson lives with her two sons, aged 52 and 54, in the top-floor flat next to where the ceiling partially collapsed.

She said the incident followed at least two years of her family reporting significant damp in their flat to RHP.

Water runs down the walls of the living room and kitchen when it rains, which can also cause a crack in the kitchen ceiling to leak, she said.

The damp causes mould in the flat, she added, which she tries to keep on top of by airing the rooms and using a dehumidifier.

Fellow resident Sarah Carson, 42, said she felt "ignored" by RHP and less safe in the block.

“I told [RHP] numerous times, I said there’s vulnerable ladies upstairs, there’s kids just down the stairwell at the bottom there where it all collapsed in… you just heard a massive crack and bang and it all went down there," she said.

Annemarie Fenlon, RHP’s executive director of operations, said the association repaired the immediate issue associated with the external roof leak on 1 November and had called customers on the top floor on Monday to reassure them and provide an update.

She continued: "The hole in the ceiling above the stairwell requires internal scaffolding for our team to be able to safely access this area to complete the repair."

Ms Fenlon added RHP’s repairs manager had contacted Ms Gleeson to apologise for its "lack of communication" regarding her concerns about damp and mould in her home and to update her on "planned priority repair works".

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]