A pregnant mum has described living in a 'nightmare' block of flats where the lift keeps breaking down and a roof is leaking despite a long battle to get the issues fixed.

Vivian Carvalho, 35, is eight months pregnant and forced to walk up four flights of stairs when the lift in her block in Chertsey Court in Mortlake, managed by Richmond Housing Partnership (RHP), breaks down – which she claimed happens roughly every two weeks.

Ms Carvalho, who has lived in Chertsey Court for six years, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) she feels RHP has not properly addressed the issues despite residents' complaints.

Mrs Carvalho has lived in Chertsey Court for six years. (Photo Credit: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon).

She claimed the block's roof has leaked for more than three years, which has led to damp in residents' flats – including her own, which she privately rents and lives in with her nine-year-old daughter.

She added she believes the leaks and damp are causing issues with the lift, and that it is a "nightmare" to walk up the stairs to her top-floor flat when it breaks down at this stage in her pregnancy.

She said: "It's just been a nightmare. We're getting a lot of damp issues because [me and my neighbour are] on the top floor, we're closest to it, and that lift gets repaired and then works for two weeks, and then it breaks again because the cause of it has not been addressed."

The lift breaks roughly every two weeks. (Photo Credit: Credit: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon).

She added: "It will affect people's mental health as well, especially someone who's elderly and they're trapped indoors and the hassle to get out of the house without this lift – sometimes it's not worth it, and you just worry.

"I'm always thinking of other people as well, it's not just affecting me. Apart from the people on the first floor, everyone else in the building is impacted."

RHP told the LDRS there have been different issues with the roof over the past few years which have impacted residents, and that it has organised a drone survey of the block to try to get to the root of the problems.

It said the last recorded breakdown it has of the lift was on January 23, which was fixed, and urged customers to report further issues. It has arranged for contractors to visit Ms Carvalho's flat by March 11 to assess it and arrange repairs.

Residents and local councillors have repeatedly raised concerns about Chertsey Court at Richmond Council meetings. 

Lib Dem Cllr Tony Paterson told the council's housing committee in 2022 the lift in the first block had been out of action for almost five years, while the neighbouring block's lift had not worked for four years even though a 94-year-old resident lived on the top floor.

She feels RHP has not properly addressed the issues despite residents' complaints. (Photo Credit: Facundo Arrizabalaga/My London).

He said: "These people's lives have been ruined, basically, by being isolated up there for all that time."

RHP began replacing all lifts at Chertsey Court in May 2022, but the works are still being carried out due to delays.

Although the lift has been replaced in Ms Carvalho's block, she said it still breaks down as she does not believe the cause has been properly addressed. 

She claimed RHP sent contractors to investigate the roof around two months ago without a key to the roof hatch, so they could not look at it.

The mum said: "It hasn't changed anything because if you're not going to fix the issues, you can put [in] a brand-new technological lift… it's still going to break down because of this issue."

She added: "The men arriving without the key for the hatch was really the last straw, because how can you send someone to repair something without full access to where the issue is?"

Ms Carvalho told the LDRS her flat is plagued by damp, which is "awful" in the colder months and causes mould to grow.

She said: "I'm allergic to the mould cleaner. I have to use it and it's obviously a very strong chemical, so it's difficult for me to manage it. But I have to, because otherwise there's just going to be mould everywhere."

Despite using mould cleaner every week and running dehumidifiers every day, Ms Carvalho said she has to keep cleaning more mould off walls in the flat.

She added the block has visible damp, while paint is peeling off the wall and when it rains water drips from the ceiling and forms a "massive puddle" by the stairs.

The mum said she has been working with her neighbour to report issues with the roof to RHP for almost three years, even involving local councillors, which has been "very frustrating" as the problems have continued.

She added: "It's just deteriorating to the point where now it's just ridiculous."

Julian Chun, executive director of homes at RHP, said: "We're sorry Ms Carvalho is experiencing damp in her home caused by a leak.

"We've arranged with Ms Carvalho for our repairs partner to visit the property by March 11 at the latest to assess the leak and arrange for works to address the issue.

"There have been different issues with the roof over the past few years that have unfortunately impacted on residents living in the block.

Work is underway now to replace the lifts. (Photo Credit: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon).

"We've organised a drone survey of the whole block to try and get to the root cause of the problems. Currently, there is water leaking into the lift shaft of [another block] and we've arranged for works to try and fix this on March 14, which will be communicated to customers. In the meantime, this is not presenting any danger.

"The last recorded breakdown we have of the lift in [Ms Carvalho's block] was on January 23, 2024, when it was reset and returned to service. The contractor is required to attend any reported breakdown within four hours, so I would urge customers to please inform RHP as soon as they become aware of a lift breakdown.

"Work is well underway to replace all 18 lifts at Chertsey Court and we're sorry that this has taken longer than it should've done to get started.

"The impact of Covid, Brexit, and a UK-wide lack of materials meant that the works were originally delayed from 2020/21.

"However, I appreciate how important it is for all residents to be able to reliably access the lifts in their day-to-day lives and we're doing our best to catch up on this project. We have now completed 14 of the 18 lifts in the replacement programme and the remainder should be completed by the end of March."