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Residents raise COVID-19 concerns after being offered showers to share following piping failures in 38-storey London block
Leaseholders living in a luxury apartment block in east London have raised concerns over the spread of coronavirus due to being told that they would have to share just a handful of showers after a major piping failure in the block meant that their hot water would be cut off for a month.
Residents living in the Ballymore-owned Pan Peninsula block were told on Tuesday last week that they would have the hot water turned off for the next four weeks after an inspection uncovered a series of fractures and leakages in the hot water pipes in the development’s 38-storey west tower. A rupture could result in severe flooding throughout the building with near boiling water.
The 762-home apartment block was completed in 2009 and is promoted as a luxury development by Ballymore, with some apartments being on sale for as much as £1.5m.
After the water was turned off on Tuesday, only five showers were initially made available to the block’s 630 residents, with residents being given just 15-minute slots in which to shower.
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This number was increased to 13 showers on Friday evening and came after residents raised complaints about the situation.
A total of 10 showers are available in a now vacated spa within the development. However, when these showers were being plumbed in on Friday, there was a blockage of the drains within the block which caused major flooding of the tower’s lobby area. Ballymore said the issue was fixed after four hours and was caused by a blockage of wet wipes and other items that should not have been flushed through the system.
No lighting in parts of the building and continued leaking ceilings @ballymore #panpeninsula #leasehold #weareballymore pic.twitter.com/DT28nKGl5P
— Ballymore Disgruntled (@Ballymorehell)No lighting in parts of the building and continued leaking ceilings @ballymore #panpeninsula #leasehold #weareballymore pic.twitter.com/DT28nKGl5P
— Ballymore Disgruntled (@Ballymorehell) August 17, 2020
The organisation has said that the showers are now fully functioning and available 24 hours a day and will have strict risk assessments for the prevention of COVID-19. Cleaners will also be on hand 24 hours a day to sanitise the area.
One leaseholder told Inside Housing: “Pan Peninsula was meant to be flagship development but it feels like a flop.”
They said that the “poor” water infrastructure meant a four-week shut down of hot water and heating and residents had no option but to use the communal showers during a pandemic. They added that they were left in a situation where if leaseholders did not like the situation, they would have to find an alternative.
Ballymore said that from an insurance standpoint the apartments remain habitable, so it would not be providing compensation as it was seen as an “unforeseen emergency”. However, it said it has instructed lawyers to seek compensation on leaseholders’ behalf from the party responsible for the pipework.
This is the second major water failure at the multi-million pound development in the past two years. In 2018, there was a full-scale rupture of the piping in the larger east tower which also resulted in the water being turned off for several weeks.
The incident triggered biennial reviews of both tower’s piping systems. A check of the pipes for the west tower two years ago raised no issues and the pipes were given a clean bill of health.
However, the inspections carried out at the start of this month revealed a serious risk of rupture to the pipe which runs between the sixth and 22nd floors of the building.
A Ballymore spokesperson said: “Following a pipe rupture in Pan Peninsula east tower in July 2018, there has been routine maintenance on the pipework, including two invasive inspections in the past 24 months. The second inspection was conducted at the beginning of August and revealed a serious risk of rupture, arising from fractures and leakage in the hot water pipes of the west tower.
"As yet we have not discovered the reason for this risk occurring within a two-year period since the last survey, but we are currently seeking further information to understand this.
“As a result the hot water pipe has been turned off as it was at risk of bursting. A burst pipe would result in flooding and could potentially cause significant damage to apartments and property in the west tower.
“We of course recognise the significant disruption this has caused leaseholders, but these are emergency works and must be carried out immediately.”
