Londoners living in a listed tower block have spoken of their misery over failing lifts that have left them climbing up to 25 flights of stairs to reach their homes.
Residents of Balfron Tower in Poplar say they’ve been left with “crippling anxiety” after being trapped in a lift or forced into a 10-minute climb to the top of the brutalist building.
Speaking to the Standard, residents said the block’s two lifts have broken down at least twice a month since last September.
In one incident on May 13, both lifts broke down, leaving residents to either climb the stairs or remain in their homes until one lift was repaired a week later. One lift resumed operation on Tuesday, with the second brought back into service on Friday.
Residents said they feared being trapped in the lift during an emergency or that firefighters would struggle to reach the top floors if a fire broke out.
A model who lives on the 24th floor of the building said: “I had crippling anxiety after being stuck in the lift in October.”
Since moving into the building last September, Harper, 21, said there have been over seven separate instances when one of the lifts has not worked.
He said it takes him at least ten minutes to walk to the top floor and he did not leave his flat when both lifts were out of order last week.
The resident said he feels frustrated about paying £2,500 a month to rent his two-bed flat, without “the basic amenity of a working lift.”
He added that his housemate has a heart condition and it is difficult for him to reach their home when the lift is broken.
Peter Yu, 58, a 15th floor resident with a spinal injury to his L3 and L4 discs said: “I am lost. I don’t know what to do.
“The lift was like a Christmas tree ornament. One minute on, one minute off.”
After attempting to ascend the stairs when both lifts were broken last week, Mr Yu was left in excruciating pain which took two days to recover from.
Mr Yu was unable to take out his six-month-old boxer puppy Bee, leaving the dog stressed and forced to use the balcony to relieve itself.
Aayush Rangras, 21, a student at Queen Mary university lives with his girlfriend, Vasundhara Gupte, 22, who has a hamstring injury which has been exacerbated by walking up the stairs to their flat.
Mr Rangas had to carry Miss Gupte on his back up 15 flights of stairs last week after the couple went to the cinema thinking the lift was working again.
He said he wants CCTV to be installed on the stairs so they can be monitored for safety in case of accidents, such as the two falls experienced by his neighbour who has mobility issues.
A resident, who chose to remain anonymous, posted about the lift failures on social media and said they were intimidated by a member of staff from the building who threatened them if they did not take it down.
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The building’s management company Way of Life told residents: “As described to us this behaviour is very disappointing and absolutely does not reflect the values and conduct to which we aspire, and we apologise for that.
“We will be conducting an investigation and have temporarily removed certain staff from the site.
“Our fire safety plan is treated with the highest levels of care and consideration and the Fire Brigade has signed off the plan specific to this building and are fully up to date on this situation.”
Residents have been offered a 24-hour helpline and extra staff are on-site to help with any issues.
Residents were informed a part for the lift which is out of service has been ordered from Germany and were promised it would be fixed by Thursday evening.
In an email sent to residents on Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for Way of Life said: “The bespoke parts that we had made in Germany and transported overnight arrived today and the team of engineers has installed them successfully.
“While we now expect that the installation of these replacement parts will deliver a lasting solution, a lift engineer will remain on standby today and over the weekend, including bank holiday Monday as a precautionary measure, and to respond quickly to any issues.”
