Brixton dad left ‘numb’ after ceiling collapses following seven years of leaks and flooding in flat

By Grainne Cuffe, local democracy reporter

A Brixton dad says he is “numb” after his ceiling collapsed following years of leaks and flooding in his flat.

Basil Clarke’s kitchen and living room ceilings fell in on July 25 after heavy rains. It followed a string of severe leaks over the past seven years.

Videos taken in his home over the years show water pouring through light bulbs, destroying his furniture, and leaving his floor covered in inches of water.

The 51-year-old lives in Holles House in Brixton, where many of his neighbour’s flats are also water damaged and prone to flooding.

Basil believes his complaints to Lambeth Council have “fallen on deaf ears”. He said: “They don’t even care – I’m becoming numb towards it. Everybody’s just dragged their feet so much.

“It’s given me so many anxieties, but I just don’t expect anything anymore.”

After a damning ITV London report aired last week, Lambeth Council offered Basil another flat.

He said: “I want to get out of here – I’ve had too much of this. To be honest I don’t want to move, I’ve been here for nearly 12 years and it’s my home.

“But I couldn’t go through all this again. They’ve taken liberty after liberty, they don’t give a damn, and everything has just fallen on deaf ears.”

An 87-year-old man, who lives on the same floor, said he is afraid when he goes to sleep for fear his water-damaged bedroom ceiling will collapse on him.

Dick Burke said: “The leaks have been going on for yonks. It’s not just from the roof, it’s the doors and windows.

“One of these days the bedroom ceiling will fall in – it’s water damaged and stained. I’m afraid. It could happen when I’m asleep.”

Dick has lived in the flat for 40 years. He said the council hasn’t done any work on the ceilings in all that time.

He said: “I keep calling them but they don’t want to know. And it’s not just me, we’re all calling them because everybody has problems.

“They’ve put up scaffolding but nobody has come to look at the roof. They’re playing mind games with us.”

ITV revealed last week that Basil’s neighbour Adeola Olutade’s ceiling collapsed on her, injuring her arm.

Her neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said he heard Ms Olutade screaming after it happened.

He said: “I heard her screaming ‘help, help, help’, if that fell on her child, she would have been stone dead.

“The council doesn’t listen – they are ignorant and arrogant and they don’t care.”

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that tenants pay their rent and should feel safe in their homes.

A spokesman for Lambeth Council said repair work has started at Holles House, “with scaffolding now up so that it can be safely completed”.

He said: “We apologise for the disruption, which in part was caused by recent heavy rain over-filling the building’s gutters.

“Following the most recent incidents the council and the tenant management organisation (TMO) took immediate action to help residents affected by the water ingress.

“A number of residents were offered emergency alternative accommodation following this incident, including in a sheltered block on the estate and at a hotel.”

He said the council is continuing to find suitable accommodation where needed while work is carried out on the affected flats.

He added: “The TMO is undertaking the internal repairs to each flat, and residents have been advised to claim for damage and loss of personal effects.

“We have also in the past responded to residents’ requests, and carried out work such as jetting and unblocking the guttering at Holles House.”

The spokesman said Lambeth has more than 23,000 council homes and its priority is “ensuring these are safe and well-maintained for all our tenants”, adding it has made many improvements in recent years.

He added: “Since last month, ten new firms have been working across the borough carrying out repairs and maintenance jobs to council homes, as part of our drive to improve the service we provide to tenants.”