Estate residents accuse ‘mystery’ housing staff of ripping down petitions

The petition’s author said the ‘mystery’ person had repeatedly damaged or torn down the notice. Photograph: courtesy Kadir Karababa / free for use by LDRS

Hackney residents say their petitions demanding better maintenance and repairs are being destroyed or torn down when they put them up on their estate.

Leaseholders and tenants have urged the Town Hall for a permanent fix to “daily” lift failures affecting their high-rise block on the De Beauvoir estate. The breakdowns, which have left one lift completely out of action, have seen people in Rozel Court trapped inside the lifts for up to an hour and left others “terrified” to use them at all.

The Town Hall has said the only long-term solution is the complete replacement of the lift as part of its planned £24m renovation across Hackney’s housing stock.

Amid the frequent failures, leaseholder Kadir Karababa began circulating notices to fellow residents linking to an e-petition that called on the council to improve its maintenance and repairs.

However, he has since reported finding these either taken down or damaged multiple times by a “mystery person”. Residents have questioned whether the council’s own staff have done it, after one officer said they “may be seen as inappropriate” by other residents.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), he said: “It could be a child in the block, but it seems coincidental that this happened repeatedly, as soon as I began raising the issues with the managers.”

In emails seen by the LDRS, one housing officer told him that putting petitions up in the building was not permitted, though Mr Karababa said the same employee had previously offered to put it up for him.

A housing manager later explained to the resident that the council did not support “unauthorised or unapproved notices” as a way for him and others to voice complaints.

Rozel Court on Haggerston’s De Beauvoir Estate. Image: Google

The manager added that the notices’ language, namely ‘Cr*p service?’ and ‘Sick of Hackney Council…’ was “contentious and divisive, and may be seen as inappropriate by some residents, staff or agencies visiting the building”.

He said residents should instead contact housing services, their local councillors, or make a formal complaint.

“How does preventing residents from sharing information about legitimate petitions align with democratic principles and residents’ rights to organise?” Mr Karababa said.

Colleena Smith, who has lived at Rozel Court for 10 years, described problems happening “all the time”, including people getting stuck in the lift between floors. The failures had forced her to carry her buggy downstairs from her 16th-floor flat.

“We no longer feel safe in our own homes. Our children are developing anxiety around something as basic as getting home safely,” she said.

Ms Smith told the LDRS she had scanned the QR code on the petition notice, only to later find the QR code torn or the flyer ripped from the notice board.

“I don’t think it’s the residents, necessarily. Why would they take it down?” she said. “We’re just trying to be heard.”

Another tenant, Michael, told the LDRS the faulty lifts were also being used as toilets by delivery drivers coming in and out of the building.

A Town Hall spokesperson said the council was “not aware the notices were being removed by managers or employees” but “fully acknowledged” the problems residents were facing and the impact on their quality of life.

The spokesperson said the lifts’ aged condition meant that until they were replaced there was an “ongoing risk” of breakdowns. However, the local authority had informed residents about its multi-million pound refurbishment, which was in the “final stages” of procurement.

“To minimise the impact on residents we are servicing the lifts every month, and where a lift breaks down we will work as quickly as possible to bring it back into use,” they said.

Regarding the reports of people urinating in the lifts, they added: “Sadly, sometimes the issues with the lifts are caused by people misusing them.

“Where the council has evidence we will take appropriate enforcement action be it via the tenancy or leasehold agreement, or reporting it to the police where the behaviour is of a criminal nature.”