‘Exhausted, frustrated and angry’: council block’s lift out of action for seven weeks

Residents of a Lower Clapton council block have been left “angry, frustrated and exhausted” after their lift broke down more than seven weeks ago — with no repair date yet in sight.

Those living on the upper floors of Newcome House on Powell Road, a block of around 50 council and ex-council flats, are being forced to climb multiple flights of stairs every day.

One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, described the breakdown as “a serious and unacceptable health and safety issue” for everyone in the building.

He said: “I live on the fourth floor and have a spinal condition. Climbing four flights of stairs a day is becoming increasingly difficult and is now affecting me both mentally and physically.”

He added that he is “far from the only resident struggling”, as many elderly people live in the block, alongside others with mobility issues and parents with young children.

“During periods of extreme heat, the physical strain of repeatedly climbing several flights of stairs presents an even greater risk,” he said.

No timeline

Residents received letters from the council on 22 June and again on 25 June. The second advised that the council’s contractor, Guideline, was awaiting a booking slot to carry out repairs to the lift’s motor and drive system. The resident said there have been no further updates since.

He said: “After more than seven weeks without a functioning lift, I find the handling of this matter by Hackney Council and its contractors to be wholly unacceptable. The apparent lack of urgency in repairing such an essential service, coupled with the absence of meaningful communication, is deeply concerning.”

He added that “to say that residents are exhausted, frustrated and angry is an understatement”.

A spokesperson for Hackney Council said: “I fully understand the frustration of the residents as we have not been able to get the lift working again as quickly as anyone would have wanted.

“The lift has been out of use following a leak in the machine room ceiling and we are currently waiting on our specialist contractor to be able to replace the motor so we can bring it back into service.

“While unfortunately we don’t yet have a timeline for when this will be, I want to reassure residents in the block that the Council is working with the contractor to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We have informed residents via letter and text messages and will continue to update them until the lift is repaired.”

Trapped for 40 minutes

It is not the first time the lift at Newcome House has made headlines this summer. In June, the Citizen reported on the “terrifying” ordeal of a resident who was trapped inside it for 40 minutes — just hours after engineers had supposedly carried out repairs that same morning.

No notice had been put up to warn residents the lift was still faulty, and the council later confirmed the breakdown was caused by a recurring fault.

That resident lodged a formal complaint raising concerns about the quality of the original repair, ongoing maintenance standards and safety procedures in the block. She is seeking compensation for distress and repeated service failures, and has said she will consider taking her complaint to the Housing Ombudsman if it is not resolved satisfactorily.

£24m programme

Responding to that incident, the council said all its managed lifts are checked monthly, and pointed to a £24 million programme to renew or replace 120 of the worst-performing lifts in housing blocks across the borough. The first phase — covering 41 priority lifts — began in June and is due to be completed by February 2027.

Anyone needing additional help while the lift is out of order should contact the council on 020 8356 3330 or neighbourhood@hackney.gov.uk.