Residents says his disabled daughter is often left stuck in their flat on Barking’s Gascoigne Estate, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter
A man with a disabled daughter says Barking and Dagenham Council has left them stuck in a third-floor flat where lifts repeatedly break down.
Mohammed – who did not want his surname used – was placed at Arbor Court, on Barking’s Gascoigne Estate, in 2023, and says he’s been asking the council to move him to somewhere more suitable for his wheelchair-bound daughter ever since.
Mohammed told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that, when the lifts break, “me and my son have to carry her upstairs”.
A council spokesperson said the authority “recognises the difficulty Mohammed is experiencing” but that it hasn’t been able to relocate him due to a lack of available ground-floor properties.
Mohammed and supporters from the London Renters Union protested outside a meeting of council leaders last week. They demanded a meeting with Labour councillor Maureen Worby, who is the cabinet member responsible for housing.
The union says Cllr Worby didn’t come out to speak to Mohammed, but has promised to meet him.
London Renters Union organiser Cara told the LDRS: “The lift has broken seven times this year, and I think 23 times in the three years that he’s lived there.
“That would be one story if the lift got repaired, say within 48 hours. But it can be up to three weeks for a lift repair.”
Cara said Mohammed has documented every instance that the lift has broken, and that the council knew he had a disabled daughter when it placed him there.
However she says that, after three years, the council has still not found him a more suitable place.
She said: “He’s been asking for a long time to be given a ground floor property.
“In December he was told by the council that he is entitled to accessible housing becasue of disabilities in the household. But they did not give any time frame at all.”
Cara added: “He’s also had housing troubles for a long time.
“He was evicted from the private rented sector, and was put in temporary housing. Then he was put in more temporary housing. He eventually got this, which should have been safe.
“It wouldn’t be so bad if the lift works.”
Arbor Court is an ‘affordable’ housing block built as part of the council-led regeneration of the Gascoigne Estate, completed in 2022.
A council spokesperson said it is aware of the repeated lift failures, and has received “on average 1.75 call outs” for repairs per month.
The spokesperson also said that Cllr Worby had agreed to meet Mohammed, but was unable to before last week’s cabinet meeting due to prior meetings.
They said: “We have not yet been able to relocate due to larger ground floor properties being in high demand, with local demand exceeding supply.
“Housing register applicants like [Mohammed] who are not homeless or in insecure accommodation are able to bid for properties on our bidding system.”
They added: “The council recognises the difficulties Mohammed is experiencing and committed to supporting residents to get the best solutions in line with their circumstances.
“An officer will be visiting Mohammed to review the position and suggest any possible alternative ways of improving his housing situation.”
