People living at an award-winning apartment complex in south Bristol have spoken out about the 'terrible' management and maintenance of the building, left them without heating and hot water for several days. Alice Clark, who has lived at Lakeshore for 10 years, told Bristol Live that the situation got so bad that she and her partner wanted to leave.
After being left for over a week without heating and hot water, Ms Clark says things in her flat improved but added that some residents were without services for longer. She estimates that over the past five years, failures with the heating and hot water have occurred as regularly as twice a month, particularly in the winter and at weekends when demand is highest.
To cope with icy weather earlier this month, she said that her family had to rely on small electric heaters and that her two-year-old daughter slept in a hoodie and coat because her bedroom gets so cold.
Read More: Residents of landmark Lakeshore development in Bristol say living there is 'hell'
Residents claim that the lack of hot water and heating continued for some flats despite management company Residential Management Group installing three temporary gas oil boilers on the site after the system failed on March 3. One occupant said that the bill for these boilers is estimated to be £38,000 and that residents, most of whom saw a 35% increase in management fees last year, will have to cover it.
Bristol Live understands that contractors are still on site to resolve ongoing issues with the temporary boilers and that, as of March 23, residents were reporting improvements in water temperature.
In a statement, RMG said that it 'completely understand the customer's concerns' that were due to 'historic problems'. It said it was already working on a project to replace the heating system. The statement added: “Temporary boilers were always required during the transition from the old to the new boiler system and are already built into the project's overall costs. “
The 'historic problems' with the boilers at Lakeshore are a contentious issue for many residents. Ms Clark says that along with its help-to-buy scheme and design plaudits, the biggest draw for her family to move into the building was its eco-credentials. It has a green energy boiler system comprising a ground source heat pump, a biomass boiler, and a backup gas boiler. But multiple residents say that the green energy systems were never bought into full operation and that the building has relied on the backup unit, which is now beyond repair.
Ms Clark said: ”It was a very big selling point in the prospectus when we bought that there's a biomass boiler. And that is very misleading because that biomass was barely commissioned at all before it was shut down.
“I feel like a lot of the sales information when we came here was misleading. I think it has been for most people that have moved in, and whether they're renting or buying, they were given the impression of somewhere green and eco-friendly, and it's not. It’s so wasteful. Everything that they do seems improvised. The actual day-to-day running is so terrible and just poorly handled.”
In correspondence with residents, RMG sets out its position that the original system was never fit purpose, saying that: "The issue with the ground source heat pumps is that the water that was being pumped around the system was progressively getting hotter to scalding temperatures, and it was, therefore, too dangerous for the tenant and potentially damaging to the pipework, so it was turned off.
"The biomass flue has been incorrectly installed horizontally in the incorrect position, and the chips used were becoming wet from leaking seals, turning the chips into mulch, which was clogging the system, and therefore, it was decided that the biomass should not be used."
Formerly the headquarters of Imperial Tobacco, the seven-storey, Grade II-listed building was re-opened in 2012 as Lakeshore and is home to almost 300 apartments. Lakeshore, its developer Urban Splash and architects Fergusson Mann garnered several prizes for the conversion, including the RIBA South West Sustainability Award and the Bristol Civic Society Environmental Award.
Urban Splash described Lakeshore as a 'unique development of eco homes'. However, the boiler breakdown is not the first complaint residents have voiced over the years.
In 2017 there were complaints of damp and mould as well as maintenance and security issues, and some residents went to court to fight parking tickets they claimed should never have been given. In 2019 Bristol Live reported frustration about water leaking from the third floor , with one resident claiming that two years of complaints had not led to a fix.
Residents say they are still experiencing leaks, believed to be related to problems with the boiler system, and a fire crew from Pill recently attended the building after concerns about pooling water near electric infrastructure on March 9. A spokesperson for Avon Fire and Rescue said: "On arrival, firefighters found a small amount of flooding in the hallways of the property and checked the safety of the scene before leaving it in the hands of the maintenance company."
A spokesperson for RMG said that when it took over management of the site in 2012, heating was provided by the traditional gas boilers and not the two ecosystems and could not comment as to what was stated to purchasers about the heating networks at the point of sale.
They added: "In recent years, we have experienced some periodic issues with the boilers and the system was reviewed by an independent boiler engineer who recommended the replacement of the current system with five new boilers, which are currently being installed over a three to four-week period. This project was due to commence in two weeks’ time, but due to a system failure, we brought the replacement forward and installed temporary boilers to reduce the disruption.
"In terms of the service charge costs, there have been increases, but this is not solely due to the boilers. A number of factors influence the charges, such as increases in utilities and insurance, which are experienced across the country and also the age of the building with assets needing to be replaced or updated. Be assured we have a robust procurement process to get the best possible price for the required services.
"We appreciate this is a difficult time for the residents, and we are keeping them up to date via our 24/7 customer service team, our onsite team and updates on our live portal."
A spokesperson for architects Fergusson Mann said: "We are extremely sorry to hear of any problems that the Lakeshore residents are experiencing, but Ferguson Mann Architects had no involvement in the design or installation of the heating systems, which were designed and installed by specialist subcontractors appointed directly by the developer."
Prior to publication, we put all these claims to the developers of Lakeside, Urban Splash. They declined to comment.
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