Residents on an Islington estate say they are “exhausted” from the persistent “mismanagement” of their building.

People living at Hathersage Court have complained of leaks, hot water outages and slow repairs since 2021.

The estate’s tenants and residents association (TRA) chair and former chair, who asked not to be named, said that the problems have been “changing people’s lives for the worse” and have caused “stress and sleeping problems”.

The latest complaint comes less than two months after flats on the estate were left without heating and hot water in sub-zero temperatures after pre-payment meters were turned on by mistake.

Islington Council subsequently apologised to residents for mistakenly activating the meters.

The heating outage linked to pre-payment meters followed a 16-day period from November 19 until December 5 last year when flats across the estate were left without hot water between 12am and 6am.

Residents told the Islington Gazette they believe this was a mistake, but one that should have been resolved more quickly.

Islington Council said that compensation has been offered to affected residents. 

The chair and former chair, who have lived on the estate for six years, have also had to move out of their flat twice since the start of 2022 due to leaks into their property.

The most recent leak took place at Christmas 2022 and the couple have still not moved back in while repair work is carried out.

They said: “These flats haven’t been renovated since they were built.

“There are so many gaps in cavity walls it means leaks often go into the neighbour’s flat.

“Lots of these problems come from the fact that there’s a historic mismanagement, undermanagement and under-reporting from the people who come and check on the building.”

Islington Council said that repairs on the estate are dealt with as soon as possible.  

Residents' anger at issues relating to the building’s maintenance has been compounded by the installation of pre-payment meters in flats.

The meters were originally scheduled to be activated on January 23. Following a backlash amid fears that energy costs would rise on the estate, Islington Council told residents at Hathersage Court that the meters would not be used for the time being. 

Currently no decision has been made as to what kind of payment plan residents will use in the future.

Cllr Una O’Halloran, Islington Council’s executive member for homes and communities, said: “We are listening to the concerns of residents at Hathersage Court about how they will pay for their heat via the meters. We have paused the implementation of the scheme while we discuss these options with them, so we can fully address any concerns.”