Residents of a £12million block of flats have said they feel ‘suffocated’ as scaffolding erected four years ago remains standing.
Contractors began work to remove combustible cladding from Kingsgate House on King’s Road in Chelsea, west London, in 2022, when the scaffolding was put up.
But it has never been removed, with the building’s management saying further issues were found.
Residents on the block’s fifth and sixth floors were evacuated and have not yet returned while construction bars continue to obstruct lower level windows.
Tenants complained of building noise starting at 8am, darkness inside their flats and hot temperatures in summer.
Kingsgate House is owned and managed by housing association Peabody, which said it hoped all work would be completed by 2027.
Wossen Tadesse, 62, said residents felt ‘suffocated’ by the works.
He and his 64-year-old partner, who asked not to be named, were two of the first tenants after the building opened in 2014.
The couple, who have been together for 20 years, pay £1,190-a-month for their two-bedroom socially-rented home on the fourth floor.
Mr Tadesse needs dialysis three times a week because of kidney problems but said there were ventilation issues in his flat, causing the summertime temperature inside to be at least five degrees above the outdoor level.
Residents have been unable to access their balconies while work has continued, meaning Mr Tadesse has lost ‘hundreds of pounds’ worth of outdoor plants because they have died.
Some of the plants sit in his living room – until winter this year the balcony doors were restricted so they could not open fully.
Mr Tadesse said: ‘Not having fresh air, we always feel suffocated during summer.. It’s too hot, unbearable.
‘It’s too dark – you have to put the light on all the time during the daytime.
‘They were advertising Boss and big brand names outside, it’s dark.’
Mr Tadesse’s partner said builders constantly passing her windows made her feel uncomfortable.
She said: ‘They don’t actually look in, but you don’t feel comfortable about moving.
‘If you want to walk in shorts, or if you’re half-dressed, you can’t do that in the daytime – you have to be careful.
‘I always make sure the doors are closed when I use my wardrobe, there’s that lack of privacy as well.’
Builders have regularly entered the couple’s flat to take photos and placed a ‘disgusting’ new bright-orange sprinkler system pipe on their wall earlier this year.
Wossen said: ‘They’ve said they’ll come and cover it. It’s disgusting, it’s disgusting. Even if they cover it, that doesn’t look right. It looks like a warehouse.
‘They say they’ll cover it, but that means they’re going to put something on top of it, like a square or whatever.
‘They just came and started hauling it in.’
The building has 43 homes across six floors and cost £12million to build – it also has solar panels on its side.
One 46-year-old resident, a hairdresser who asked not to be named, bought a quarter of her one-bedroom Kingsgate House flat through the shared ownership scheme ten years ago.
Since then, she has seen her service charges and rent more than double from just £291.51 in 2016 to £664.10 as of this month – meaning the charges are now more than her £525-a-month mortgage.
She said: ‘When you’re living here, you have no light, not much air, people passing in front of the building, and for a while they were using an advertisement on top of the scaffolding.
‘We don’t know where the money went from all the advertisements from these luxury brands – that was hiding even more of the light, then we complained about it.
‘After they just put a net over the scaffolding.
‘The reality is, they want to save money by not relocating people.’
A Peabody spokesperson said it hoped to complete the work in 2027.
The company said it was ‘very sorry’ that work had taken ‘much longer than expected’ and for ‘the impact this has had on residents’.
It said it did not ‘underestimate how challenging it has been’ but added the work was ‘essential’ for safety.
‘When we removed the cladding, we uncovered additional issues within the building.
‘This has happened across the sector, as some problems only become visible once work begins.
‘Where this happens, we make sure everything is fully put right so homes are safe.
‘We’re continuing to stay in close contact with residents and will share clearer timescales as soon as we can.
The spokesperson added: ‘We’re focused on finishing this as quickly as possible, while making sure it is done properly and to the highest safety standards and continuing to support residents throughout.’
A Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea spokesperson said the authority had ‘not had any involvement’ with the works and had only received one complaint about a broken lift.
They said: ‘This is a Peabody property and as a registered housing association the maintenance is their responsibility.’
The council added: ‘Residents can report issues with landlords and living standards to our environmental health team and they will investigate where appropriate.’
