Elderly Surbiton residents stranded for seven weeks by broken lift

Elderly people living in a retirement housing development have been stranded in their flats for more than seven weeks due to a broken lift.

Although workers from the lift company have visited three times they have failed to fix the problem.

Residents of Parish Court in Surbiton, south-west London, said they had complained to managing agents FirstPort before, but claimed nothing was done.

FirstPort said it was working to "resolve this as quickly as possible".

Parish Court is a four-storey building containing 42 independent living apartments.

When the lift initially stopped working on 11 June an engineer attended the next day and a new electrical part was ordered, FirstPort said.

However, once the new part was fitted the engineer discovered an additional fault with the electrical circuit board and then when that part arrived, there was "an additional unforeseeable issue with wiring".

FirstPort apologised and said it had escalated the problem to senior management, but was unable to quote a date for the repair.

Kathy Jones lives on the first floor and has arthritis in both her knees as well as weakness in one leg, making her prone to falls.

She said she felt "very sad, and very angry".

"Shopping has been more difficult, every aspect of life really has been changed because of the lack of the lift," she explained.

"I like to get out, I've got friends in the area and have to rely on them coming to see me now.

"The service charges are not cheap here and we expect value for money... we feel we're paying for something that at the moment we're not getting."

Meanwhile Yash Bandit, who lives on the second floor and has a metal rod in her leg, said her mobility was worsening because she was not able to move around as much as before.

She said: "I'm supposed to be active, going to the gym and swimming and walking a lot, which I've really cut down on because I have to use the staircase now."

Ms Bandit added she was "struggling" with shopping and laundry and had to ask her sons for help, one of whom had asked her to move in with him temporarily because the issues are affecting her so much.

"It's affecting me more mentally because I'm getting housebound more and I'm not able to help others or myself," she said.

Hilary Johnson, who lives on the ground floor and is a member of the residents' association, said: "It's not safe; some people who aren't steady on their feet to have to climb up [the stairs]."

"It's definitely putting their health at risk if they try to do so. If they don't do so, they're trapped in their flats," she added.

In a statement, a FirstPort spokesperson said: "We are sorry for the disruption caused by the broken lift at Parish Court, and we are working closely with the lift contractor to resolve this as quickly as possible."

The property management company added delays to repairs had been worsened because it does not stock the replacement parts and had to have them made in Spain.

FirstPort also warned there could be "further breaks, as other parts were not operational at the time".

Its statement continued: "We fully understand the difficulties a lift outage can pose in retirement communities and the development manager is continuing to support residents by checking on them and offering to provide support where it's needed, including carrying up their shopping and laundry whilst the lift is under repair."

But Ms Johnson argued FirstPort's response was "entirely inadequate" and the residents were "being fobbed off".

"They are the managing agents, they should get it sorted and as soon as possible," she said.

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