TENANTS in a block of flats listed as ‘luxury’ are “sick to the back teeth” of their living conditions and say they feel neglected by its management company.
Waterside Apartments on St James Street, Accrington, are managed by London-based Residential Management Group (RMG), which manages thousands of properties across the UK.
Paddy Connelly lives in one of the most severely affected apartments and he believes there are many other tenants experiencing the same problems.
He said: “We have resorted to crying out for help and desperately need something constructive to happen.
“All of the top floor apartments in the building are damp and mushrooms are growing on the walls, which has even caused one resident to suffer from a hair loss disorder.
“Our ceilings are almost falling through and when the weather is bad, water trickles through the spotlights and electrics, causing them to trip and that often sees the fire alarm go off at all hours, wasting the fire service’s time and taxpayers’ money.
“We’re absolutely sick to the back teeth of it. RMG won’t respond to any calls made by tenants or leaseholders in need. They have even had the nerve to up our service charge for maintenance they hardly ever provide.”
Mr Connelly, along with several other residents who gathered together to tell of their plight, believes nothing will change until a better management company is installed, and that many tenants who have lived in the building long-term much preferred the previous company.
Frank Burrows, a pensioner who has lived at Waterside happily for several years and enjoys the convenience of its location, has reached breaking point and has now made plans to move out.
He said: “I don’t want to go. It’s such a shame because I love it here. We’re a real community and everybody looks out for each other, as you can see – but RMG have left many of us with no option. We’ve been asking for the issues to be resolved, and they just make false promises and nothing ever happens.
“The flats are falling to bits, folk are having to sleep in different rooms to avoid the damp and dripping water. I’m not the only one moving out, there’s a few just on this floor that I know of.
“How can they let this happen? This is no drug den, we’re all good, hard working folk suffering because the management company don’t care.”
Another tenant is said to have suffered a mice infestation behind their kitchen units.
Mr Connolly said: “When a tenant does report an issue, on the very rare occasion we get a response, they send a contractor from Manchester. Surely to keep costs down and do good for the community, they should be using local businesses?
“All we want is for our beautiful Waterside building to be self-managed, or just to be managed better. We pay good money, upwards of £650 per month, to live here and we all really do love it, we just deserve better but at the moment, we’re being neglected.”
Further issues Mr Connelly spoke of included faulty heating, excessive costs of a fortnightly cleaner and a gated car park that only a select number of residents have an entry fob for.
A spokesperson for RMG said they sympathised with the tenants who are suffering and are seeking to correct the issues raised.
Justin Herbert, operations director at RMG, said: “We are aware of the internal damage highlighted by the pictures and totally sympathise with the owner.
“The room inside of the property is subject to an insurance claim and works will be carried out once a scheduled large roof repair is complete. We will contact the owner again to clarify the situation and assist with the clear up.
“Although RMG has a London office we are a national company managing over 110,000 properties across the UK.
“They are supported by a 24/7 customer contact centre and they would be happy to investigate any complaints raised.
“In relation to the specific queries we can confirm that the owners who have a car park space all have fobs and replacements can be sourced through our customer service team, cleaning is carried out weekly and inspected by our team, we employ both local and national contractors with their selection based on value for money and service.
“Finally, the heating is the responsibility of the individual owner and is not from a communal facility and the satellite system is fully operational.
“We take any complaints seriously and would welcome the opportunity to meet the residents to address any concerns further.”
On hearing this response, Mr Connolly said: “We’ve been suffering like this for years, so how sympathetic are they really? There’s loads of tenants who would tell you they fell ripped off."
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