Christine Govey in Holmes Road

RESIDENTS in two different housing blocks in Camden are being left stranded by broken lifts, resulting in health problems for tenants forced to climb the stairs.

The tale of two lifts has left people living in flats above the council’s Holmes Road depot in Kentish Town and in Ebony House in West Hampstead angry with their respective landlords, accusing them of ignoring complaints and being slow to respond to problems.

Tenants in the four flats at council-owned 78 Holmes Road say that they have only had intermittent service in the lift for a year. They say it has hardly worked for more than a few days since a major breakdown last summer. It means that residents, including those with heart problems and mobility issues, are having to struggle up flights of stairs, giving them added stress.

Christine Govey, 69, who has lived in a flat there for 36 years, said: “You have got people who can’t leave their house, who have real problems getting up the stairs, and we have just been ignored. The lift has been getting bad for the past five to six years. It would end up working once every two months.”

Siobhan Cunningham: ‘They always seem to be waiting for a part’

Problems appear to be affecting the lift’s door mechanism, which tenants have ended up having to force to close before.

When the New Journal visited on Tuesday, it was out of service and had been taken out of service. One woman, who has lived in the block with her family since 1998 said: “I’ve got severe health problems, and this is enough to give me a breakdown on top of that. It gives me so much stress, because they are effectively calling me a liar, you start to doubt yourself.”

Ms Govey added: “They seem to lack any empathy on the phone. People are upset and there’s never any understanding of the problem. It’s just a box-ticking exercise and then nothing gets done. They just don’t care.”

The block was managed by Camden’s corporate team, because of its link to the depot, before being transferred to Camden’s housing department earlier this year. Similar issues are being faced by people living in Ebony House, Lithos Road, which is run by Notting Hill Genesis. After seven weeks of outages and no communication from the housing association, one tenant, Siobhan Cunningham, even went to the company’s offices in Angel to complain.

After the New Journal enquired on Thursday, residents received a letter on Saturday saying they would get £100 in compensation – far less than the amount they would ordinarily pay in service charges. Engineers from Jacksons, who manage lifts for NHG, were on site on Tuesday.

Ms Cunningham, 64, who lives on the fifth floor said: “They always seem to be waiting for a part. A few months ago it broke and they ordered the part then they said it would be two weeks. We ended up waiting a lot longer, then it breaks again.

“It means we are stranded. I have to go shopping every day as I can only carry two bags of shopping up at a time. I’ve got asthma, so that makes it difficult with the stairs. I’ve got a system now where I walk up to the third floor, take a deep breath, and carry on – and I stop if I have to. But I shouldn’t have to do this.”

A Notting Hill Genesis spokesperson said: “We apologise to residents who have been affected by the broken lift at Ebony House. Despite best efforts and several visits to repair the lift, it took a while to identify the root cause of the breakdown.

“We have now identified and ordered the part which needs to be replaced. This is due to be delivered this week and will be fitted as soon as it arrives with our contractor. We have written to residents to apologise and have offered compensation for the delay in getting the lift repaired.”

A Camden Council spokesperson said: “Our technicians are currently prioritising the repair of the lift at 78 Holmes Road. Investigations are being carried out and once the fault is identified we will be writing to residents to update them on when the lift will return to service and to offer assistance with any access needs. “Following completion of this repair, we will continue to monitor the lift as part of our wider lift maintenance programme.”