Residents on a housing estate say they have been plagued by heating and hot water outages for six years after a new heating system was installed - and it still is not fixed.

Leaseholders across the Whittington Estate, sometimes referred to as Highgate New Town, have complained about the problems since 2016, but say Camden Council has still not resolved them.

The Ham & High recently reported that Asila, a 71-year-old who lives in Sandstone Place, was left without heating and hot water in her home for six days over Christmas.

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Anya, a resident in Lulot Gardens since 2014, said problems with her hot water began after the council installed a new heating system at the estate in 2016-17.

She said: “Since the system has been installed, we’ve had problems every couple of months that we would never have had before.

“I don’t remember ever calling Camden about hot water before [2016].”

The Ham & High has seen a Freedom of Information response from Camden Council that shows that more than 700 heating repairs had to be carried out by its contractor, GEM Environmental Building Services, at the estate between June 2021 and June 2022.

The heating system currently used on the estate comprises a central boiler and associated Heat Interface Units (HIUs) to transfer heat to individual homes.

Ham & High:

Lukewarm water is the primary problem experienced by residents, which they say often occurs when the filter in the HIUs becomes clogged with dirt.

Anya said: “In general terms we have problems with our hot water on a regular basis, in particular this happens in winter months.

“I think the system is not fit for purpose. When the temperature drops outside, the water temperature drops right away.

“I have two little children so I actually have a thermometer so that I can know the exact temperature of the water.

"When this happened recently [on December 10], the water was around 32C, which is not suitable for a nice bath for children, so we had to heat water in kettles.”

Anya contacted Camden Council about the problem on December 13 and was told someone would look at the problem on December 16.

After a contractor failed to come on that day, she was given an emergency appointment for December 17 and was subsequently told that, on this occasion, the problem was a fault with the temperature flow sensor in her HIU.

She was told by the contractor that somebody would be sent to fix the sensor, but has not been contacted since.

Anya added: “It’s a completely disastrous experience and a complete lack of care from Camden.

"It’s really tough, especially when we have little kids and it’s cold outside.”

Sue Dawson, a leaseholder who rents out two properties in Sandstone Place, said her tenants have “regular” problems with a “lack of heating and hot water”, and that she also recently experienced the issue of a contractor no-show.

Sue travelled from her home in Hastings to attend a repair, but nobody turned up during the scheduled hours.

Sue said: “This happened three weeks ago, when the timing was set for the afternoon, between 1 and 6pm. It was during that freezing, freezing time.

“Obviously I cannot personally sit in my tenants’ house - that’s impolite to say the least.

“So, I just sat on the estate waiting, and then I went to the library, and I asked my tenants to call me if somebody turns up. But nobody turned up.”

A Camden Council spokesperson said: “The council has been reviewing the performance of the heating system at the Whittington estate and has been visiting all flats to check the settings on the Heat Interface Units and to install an upgraded valve.

“We have visited a large proportion of properties and are looking to visit the remainder.

 “We are also working with engineers to look at how we can optimise the overall operation of the heating system and will be updating residents regarding this.”

Camden Council also said that since April 1, 2022, there has been a reduction in the number of reported issues with the heating and hot water services compared to the past two years.

They added that contractors have been attending and cleaning the HIU filters to prevent them from becoming blocked, and that recent appointment cancellations were due to contractors testing positive for Covid.

GEM Environmental Building Services said they were unable to comment.