Shocking conditions inside miserable Plymouth flats exposed

'Petrified' families living next to a Plymouth apartment block boarded up after a major fire fear their lives are being put in danger.

Neighbours in Barne Barton say it may be a matter of time before disaster strikes their homes.

Residents of the surviving post-war Sanctuary Housing towers off Savage Road claim their stairwells flood like 'Niagara Falls' and water regularly pours through ceilings, walls, bathrooms and kitchens, leaving them with no electricity or hot water.

No smoke detectors are fitted in any of the hallways, faulty security doors mean anyone can get in and run amok and the damp is so bad that 'mushrooms' creep all over the place, it's claimed.

One woman told Plymouth Live she was forced to live solely in her bedroom for 'nine months' after the ceiling in her living room collapsed - whilst others can see 'the sky' through gaping holes in their roof.

Residents say the situation simply isn't good enough - particularly as those on long-term leases are made to pay a combined monthly service charge and ground rent fee of £179.98 for the privilege of having their properties kept in good order.

Sanctuary bosses say they are committed to improving life on the estate - but admit things could be better and say fly-tippers are hampering progress on a planned programme of works.

It comes weeks after arsonists targeted Sanctuary's sister tower next door, leaving a dozen families homeless.

Some claimed piles of uncollected rubbish and mattresses were set alight on the bottom floor, though that has not been confirmed.

"Everyone is living in fear - I can't sleep at night"

Sanctuary resident and Barbican McColls worker Sam Weaver says it's a worrying time for everyone.

"People are petrified - literally petrified, because nothing ever changes," the ex-bouncer said.

"People can't live like this anymore, it's just not fair.

"Ninety per cent of us work so hard, just so that we can live in sub-standard accommodation.

"It's like Niagara Falls in the stairwells when it rains. There are leaks everywhere. People can see the sky from their ceilings because of all the holes.

"Everyone is living in fear. I can't sleep at night because I am so worried about what might happen."

"I have had long-standing problems with the quality of my flat.

"The carpets have been down 30 years and they are not fire retardant. The security doors don't work properly, they don't always shut," she said.

"The door downstairs doesn't lock - I don't know who is coming in and out.

"I have come out of my flat to go to work, there are people sat hanging about on the stairs. I asked them; do you live here?

"They said, "no, we are just sheltering from the rain."

"We just don't know what is going on - we just fear everything is being brushed under the carpet.

"The building is falling into disrepair," she added.

Sam - who has beaten cancer twice - says she's prepared to form a tenants group in the hope of challenging Sanctuary about the state of everyone's homes.

Sanctuary holds the lease on the pile of ageing blocks on behalf of landlords Quondam Estates Investments and Aviva Life and Pensions.

They're not earmarked for demolition like the blue-coloured flats around the estate in the looming wider regeneration of Barne Barton.

Sam says it's outrageous residents are made to pay hefty monthly fees - when they barely get anything in return.

She pays a whopping £179.98 a month in service fees on top of her £100 a week mortgage.

"The trees outside aren't meant to be within six feet of the windows, and yet they're practically touching my balcony," she said.

"The grass is only half cut. It just isn't good enough."

Others who live in Sanctuary accommodation in nearby Talbot Gardens said rubbish repeatedly mounted up in communal drying rooms - before workers rushed in to clear it all away on the day the fire took hold.

"Nothing ever gets done"

Mum-of-two Julia Rimicane lives in the basement of the end block of Sanctuary estates on Talbot Gardens.

She says she has to leave a bucket out every night to collect filthy water that drips from holes in her ceiling.

"I have had lots of problems with Sanctuary," the 28-year-old said.

"People have been putting rubbish in the drying room, and upstairs, and doesn't get taken away.

"A lot of times people reported this to Sanctuary, saying there would be a fire.

"It smells and my children breathe it all in.

"They go to play outside in the grass and it's in the back of their throats.

"On the night of the fire, it was all taken away.

"I'm scared - and there are so many leaks.

"Water is coming out from everywhere. Sanctuary said they would do something about it and nothing gets done.

"I had to use hot water from my neighbours just so I could feed my baby."

Sam Weaver's daughter, Laurna Curtis, says she was glad to see the back of Barne Barton - but she fears for her mum's safety.

"It got to the stage where it was too much," she said.

"People were setting fire to all the bins - the play park got set alight twice.

"The swearing from the older children was disgusting. It was always the same family.

"I just want things to change - especially for my mum."

Sanctuary Housing: Fly-tipping is a problem - we need people to act responsibly

Housing officials have blamed fly-tippers for adding to problems on the Barne Barton estate.

They've urged people to act responsibly to help lift the area.

And they've revealed there is a programme of improvement works in place to ensure life does improve for all.

Sanctuary also confirmed it took away huge swathes of rubbish on the day of the fire - only for a load more to return days later.

Katie Poole, Operations Manager at Sanctuary Housing said: “Fly-tipping is an on-going problem in Barne Barton and as well as presenting a significant fire risk, it brings the quality of the estate down.

"While it is every residents’ responsibility to keep communal areas clear, we had been clearing dumped rubbish regularly and asking residents to report fly-tipping.

“Despite regularly clearing the communal areas and outside flats, on the day of the fire, we cleared two further shipping containers of rubbish; just two days later there was rubbish dumped again.

"We ask all residents to please help us keep the estate clean and report fly-tipping whenever they see it.

“While we lease rather than own the properties in Barne Barton, we recognised some time ago that the quality of the homes was not up to the standard we expect so we’ve been working with residents, community leaders and the MP to improve them.

“Since then, we’ve invested significantly, installing new heating systems, decorating the communal areas and fitting new doors and have a planned programme of further improvements."

'Fire will delay progress on the estate'

“We share residents’ concerns that this fire will delay progress to improve the estate and we are working with the police in every way we can to bring the culprit to justice.

"Our priority is looking after the residents directly affected by the fire, but we remain committed to improving the homes and neighbourhood in Barne Barton.”

Who are Sanctuary Housing?

Sanctuary Housing describes itself as one of the UK's leading social landlords and holds 76,500 properties in its housing stock.

As a not-for-profit organisation, it reinvests any surplus it makes back into its housing and services, 'making communities a place our residents are proud to call home.'

It aims to provide an excellent, customer-friendly service.

"Our residents help us achieve this by challenging our performance and making suggestions about how we can improve," a statement says on its website.

Q&A with Sanctuary Housing

Plymouth Live put a series of detailed allegations made about life on the estate to Sanctuary Housing.

This is the full list of questions and the firm's responses.

Q. There are no smoke detectors in the hallways of the Sanctuary Housing blocks,

which people have grave concerns about

A. Fire Service Guidance on general needs flats within purpose built blocks does not

require smoke detection in communal areas, because if there is a fire somewhere

else in the building, residents should remain in their flats, which are designed to

prevent fire and smoke ingress. By remaining in their flat, they leave the corridors

and stairwells free for firefighters to get into the building and safely extinguish the

fire.

Q. The carpets and walls are apparently not fire retardant - some therefore are

petrified that a similar fire incident will happen

A. Wall and floor coverings on communal areas are required to resist ignition and if

set alight they are designed to resist further burning. Recent visits by the fire service

have confirmed that the materials in situ will perform to this standard, however their

ability to do so is reduced if additional fire loading is present, for example fly tipped

materials.

Q. Security doors don't work properly, meaning people/youngsters who don't live

there are coming in and out frequently

A. We have experienced problems with the security doors being damaged and we

would ask that residents report suspicions about anyone causing damage to doors to

us and to the police. We aim to carry out repairs to security doors as soon as

possible.

Q. Some locals report that walls, ceilings, kitchens and bathrooms are leaking water

- one saying it's like Niagara Falls in the stairwell of the block next to the one hit by

fire

A. We are not aware of any issue related to this but would ask residents to contact

us if they need to report a repair.

Q. Complaints that hot water doesn't work properly, some having to share resources

with their neighbours

A. We are not currently aware of any outstanding repairs relating to hot water

systems. If any resident needs to report a required repair, we would ask them to

contact us so we can send an engineer to resolve the issues.

Q. General complaints that service charges are far too high and that people are not

seeing anything for their money - grass isn't cut frequently/properly and trees are left

overgrown

A. We would encourage any resident who has concerns about the service charge, or

the general maintenance work being done, to make contact with us.

Q. Residents want to form their own tenants group to fight back against the problems

which they say are entirely Sanctuary's fault

A. We want to encourage all residents to get involved and give us their views, and

we would be pleased to support this group – we want to listen to them and work

together to improve the estate. We’ve held drop in sessions recently which have

been well attended and would be pleased to hold more in the future.

Want more news?

To keep up to date with Plymouth Live's latest news, follow us on Facebook here and Twitter here, or visit our homepage at www.plymouthlive.com

For Devon news, find Devon Live's Facebook page here, or their Twitter page here, or visit their homepage at www.devonlive.com

For Cornwall news, find Cornwall Live's Facebook page here, or their Twitter page here, or visit their homepage at www.cornwalllive.com