Youths found sleeping in stairwells and having sex in abandoned cars on ‘deteriorating’ estate

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Residents in a block of flats claim their lives are being made a nightmare by youths who wee in the stairwell and have sex in the car park.

One person living at Ira Court in West Norwood said he’d found teenagers as young as 14 sleeping in the stairwell overnight.

Some youths also take drugs and have sex in abandoned vehicles left in the car park for long periods of time, he claimed.

Other residents at the block managed by housing association L&Q said they were fed up with rubbish not being cleared from corridors for days and graffiti remaining on walls for weeks.

When they complain to L&Q, residents say the housing association drags its feet for months, while police allegedly told one person they couldn’t help because trespassing wasn’t a criminal matter.

Speaking at a Lambeth council housing committee on June 20, Ira Court resident Jack McCabe said: “I would say the antisocial behaviour at Ira Court could be categorised as both extreme and persistent.

“With regards to extreme there have been instances around abandoned cars in our car park. L&Q refused to move them at first, claiming they didn’t have the right to do so. This then results in children up to young adults using the cars to smoke, sleep, store belongings and unfortunately sexual activity.”

He added: “When police have been called, residents have been told things such as ‘if you are in your home you are safe’ and ‘trespassing is a civil issue not a criminal one.’

“We would find children as young as 14 sleeping in the stairwells overnight and the police would only come between the hours of nine to five and not actually move them on.”

Another resident who has lived in the block in Norwood Road for over a decade said the building was originally a nice place to live but had been allowed to deteriorate over the years, while at the same time antisocial behaviour grew.

The woman, who only wanted to be named as Sophie, said: “At the beginning it was fine. But throughout the years people started to not take care of the place and leave their rubbish out.

“We have a huge problem here with youth coming into the buildings, hanging out in the stairwells and leaving cigarettes and boxes of chicken there. Most disturbingly we had people peeing in the lifts and on the stairs.”

She added: “The other thing is the cleaning. I’ve taken photos of rubbish and three to four days later it was still there. The cleaning is not being done regularly.”

Sharon Burns, director of housing management at L&Q said: “We’ve put in place measures to make Ira Court more secure to help residents feel safer and to deter people from congregating in and around the area.

“This includes investing in secondary doors with fob access within the buildings. Additionally, through our relationship with the local police, patrols have been increased in the area and in communal areas of the building.

“The safety of our residents remains our top priority and the cost of these improvements will not be passed on to residents.”

Pictured top: Rubbish dumped outside Ira Court, West Norwood (Picture: Resident handout)