East London tower block residents warn of scorching flats

Evening Standard

East London tower block residents described their flats as “like living in an oven” after the building reached sweltering temperatures, forcing them to leave their homes to take breaks from the heat.Problems with scorching temperatures inside Leaside Lock flats have been ongoing since last year, when one resident found the heat so unbearable they plastered a sign which read “DO NOT BUY THESE FLATS. TOO HOT” in their window.The Standard spoke to residents in the new-build development in Tower Hamlets a year on, who said extreme temperatures in the Summer remain an unresolved issue, making it “challenging” to stay in the building.Residents will deal with scorching temperatures of up to 34C this week during London’s fourth heatwave.

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00:00Residents living in an East London tower block have described their flats as like living

00:04in an oven after their building in Leaside Lock reached unbearably sweltering temperatures

00:09during the warmer months.

00:11Last summer, one resident in a part ownership flat plastered a sign which read, do not buy

00:15these flats, too hot in their window.

00:18Another anonymous resident using the Instagram account, resident Leaside Lock, posted a photo

00:24of the building captioned, do not buy these flats, it has been the worst decision of my

00:28life and I regret it every day, I dread coming home to the flat.

00:32As London hit 34 degrees in the city's fourth heatwave of the year, I went down to the building

00:38to try and speak to residents and understand why the problems with the sweltering temperatures

00:42are still ongoing.

00:4331-year-old Nick Stewart, who's a resident on the 10th floor and often works from home, told

00:49me that he often needs to leave his flat because it gets so hot that the temperature becomes

00:53too unbearable.

00:55It can be quite challenging at times because there's not enough air flow, it doesn't come

00:59with air con and because it's really well insulated so during the summer there's no

01:05escape for the heat.

01:07I have to come out for walks sometimes or make sure I sit in front of a fan.

01:11One anonymous resident said many people living in the shared ownership building were reluctant

01:16to speak with journalists because of fears that negative coverage of Leaside Lock would

01:20damage their resale prospects.

01:22Leaside Lock is a mixed-use development in Tower Hamlets consisting of five different

01:27blocks which are shared ownership, private rental and social housing.

01:31It was developed by Guinness Partnership, one of the UK's largest providers of affordable

01:35housing.

01:36I contacted the Guinness Partnership with some of the residents' complaints about the temperatures.

01:41They said only 4 of 440 residents in their buildings had made complaints and they're working

01:47with those to try and sort out issues with temperatures.

01:52at least 4 of 5.

01:54A lot of people of the expertise, they have made complaints and its use of locations.

01:57They struggled with their local heating and the energy and the energy and the energy and

02:01static conditions.

02:02They're working with a lot of people who are in their kitchen.

02:03They're working with a lot of people who are in their own kitchen and they're looking for

02:05dead in the kitchen.

02:06They were helping to house their homes because they were not so beautiful and they're not so beautiful.

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