Residents living in a Belfast City Centre apartment have complained about a lack of security in their property which is plagued by anti-social behaviour.
The Great Victoria Street apartments, run by Choice Housing, had a fob security system installed last year in order to improve the security in the building. However a few months later the systems stopped working, allowing anyone to access the properties.
This is combined with a security gate leading to the car park not working for six weeks, leading residents to worry about the safety of their vehicles.
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Due to the security issues, problems have arisen with drug users coming in off of the street into the apartments, with used needles being found in communal areas and lifts. Residents have also claimed there has been issues with drug dealing at the apartments for over five years and one claimed there had been eight drug-related deaths since they moved into the property.
There are also problems with anti-social behaviour with residents complaining of constant partying and recently an electric fireplace was thrown from an upper floor apartment onto the street.
Speaking to Belfast Live, one of the residents said: "Since we moved into these apartments we have been faced with problems, although things used to be much worse with regards to problem tenants living here. But there are still major issues that we do not feel are being addressed.
"One of our main concerns is the safety of the building where anyone can just walk in off the street because the doors are always left wide open. Last year a fob system was installed here and for the first few weeks it worked very well, but in the past few months it has completely stopped working and anyone can now open the doors.
"There is a problem with drugs in the flats complex and the lack of a working fob system only helps this because there is no control over who enters the property.
"One of the main gates into the car park has not worked for weeks, even though the housing association is aware of the risk of thefts from it. Recently we woke up and found there was a breeze block put through a window of one vehicle down here.
"We are regularly finding used needles around the communal areas and last week I had to move a young child and its mother out of the way in the lifts because there was one in it and I feared they could stand on it if they didn't notice it.
"Since I have lived here there have been around eight drug deaths with the most recent being just two weeks ago.
"There is also non-stop partying and noise from some of the flats and just a few days ago someone threw an electric fireplace from their flat window onto the street, which could have killed someone walking past.
"We just don't feel like these issues are being taken seriously enough. The place is constantly filthy, with bins overflowing and recycling that has not been lifted since last year."
A Choice Housing spokesperson said: "‘The safety of our tenants and the wider community is of paramount importance to us and we are committed to providing secure, affordable, quality housing to meet the diverse needs of our tenants.
"Choice are aware of the issues at Great Victoria Street and have taken steps to try and resolve them. We have onsite security in place at the scheme, including round the clock patrols with CCTV monitoring and a rapid response unit to deal with incidents as and when they occur. A fob access system has been installed which is being activated on a phased basis throughout the scheme and is due to be fully implemented in the coming weeks.
"There have been a number of issues reported with the carpark shutter and despite repairs being completed over the past few weeks, further repair is required and will be completed as soon as possible. Choice are currently investigating the incident in the carpark and cannot comment further at this stage.
"Choice have been liaising with Belfast City Council and the relevant contractors to ensure that waste and recycling is collected regularly from the site and collections have continued to take place throughout the course of this year
"The Association is aware of a number of tragic incidents at the scheme and we continue to work closely in assisting the PSNI with their investigations into these. Choice robustly addresses incidents of anti-social behaviour in accordance with our Anti-Social Behaviour Policy and we are conducting a number of investigations including the incident where a household item was thrown onto the street.”
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