Baby girl is ‘freezing’ every night as dad claims landlord hasn’t fixed heating for three years

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

A dad said his baby daughter is “freezing” every night after claiming his flat has had no heating for three years.

Steve Armstrong, 31, moved into his partner’s flat in North Greenwich in 2021, after she moved there the year before.

The dad said the flat has had no working heating since his partner arrived. He said the issue has become more prevalent since his six-year-old daughter moved in, and even more so after the arrival of the couple’s first daughter together, eight months ago.

He said: “It disturbs [the baby’s] sleep, definitely. She’s sneezing all night, all the time. This is her first year but my six-year-old’s room is freezing and she’s constantly ill with cold and coughs. Both of them, if you touch them in the morning, they’re freezing cold.”

Mr Armstrong said the couple have had numerous phone calls and emails with housing association L&Q since raising the issue, and filed two formal complaints, but claimed the company has still not taken responsibility for the problem.

He said he feels that the housing association and heating company, Loka Energy, appear to be passing the matter between each other when staff visit the home during winter each year.

He said: “[L&Q] sent someone out last week again. He came to look and said ‘it’s not our issue, send it over to Loka’.”

He added: “Loka have been contacted by L&Q and by us. They sent out their own guy twice. They just come here for five or 10 minutes, and they will say, ‘this isn’t our issue, it’s L&Q’s’, and that’s it.”

Mr Armstrong said the flat’s location, beside the Thames, means the wind is felt particularly strongly in the flat, and feels that the bedroom windows are not sealed properly. He claimed the issue becomes most noticeable between November and January each year.

He said: “December is the worst. It just gets so cold in the bedrooms. I’ve been sleeping with a tracksuit on. I can feel the breeze. I sleep closest to the window.”

He added: “When you go into my older daughter’s bedroom in the morning and open the door, you can feel the cold hit you. It’s like you’re going outside, and she’s sleeping in it.”

Mr Armstrong believes the problem is restricted to only his family’s flat after speaking to neighbours in the building. He said the couple have decided to stop paying their heating bill for the past month until they are told what they are paying it for.

He added: “It’s just unbelievable in this day and age that you pay all this rent and nothing has happened. I’m always stressed about the kids and it’s like there’s no compassion. I’m sure the people typing emails wouldn’t stand for having a freezing cold bedroom.”

A Loka Energy spokesman said before Christmas: “Loka have been engaging with L&Q and understand this matter is being resolved by the housing association as their landlord.”

An L&Q spokesman said: “The health and well-being of our residents will always be a top priority at L&Q, and we’re sorry that our repairs service has fallen short of the standards our residents should expect in this instance.

“We have spoken with the Armstrong family to apologise for the unacceptable delay in repairing their heating, and our specialist heating contractor will be at their home tomorrow (December 21) to identify and resolve the problem. We will remain in contact with the family over the days and weeks ahead to ensure that their heating is fully restored.”

Pictured top: Steve Armstrong, 31, said his eight-month-old daughter is “freezing cold” to the touch in the morning (Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga)