A woman with disabilities has been forced to crawl up stairs to her flat and left effectively trapped in her home for a week after her building's lift broke down.
Wheelchair user Abbi Brown, 31, said she has been denied access to a working lift by her property management, leaving her stranded in her own home in Bethnal Green.
The lift in Chapter House broke down on Thursday June 20.
"I got home from watching the football actually and couldn't get back in. A neighbour came down and carried my chair up while I crawled up the stairs," Ms Brown told the Standard.
Despite reporting the issue immediately, Crabtree Property Management have failed to fix the lift.
"They sent an engineer out on Friday afternoon. The engineer got it fixed, I went to leave the flat, it was broken again by the time I left," Ms Brown explained. A similar scenario played out on Saturday.
Ms Brown said there is another working lift in the building, but it's inaccessible due to a locked door. "
I can see it through a window in a door but that door is kept locked. I've been given multiple different excuses as to why," she said.
Crabtree has given various reasons for not unlocking the door, including distance from their office, security issues and fire safety, Ms Brown said.
She contacted the London Fire Brigade, who advised that "just because it's a fire-door doesn't mean it needs to be kept locked, it just needs to be kept closed".
The situation has severely impacted Ms Brown's daily life.
"I've not been able to get to friends' birthdays, get to my work office, get to swimming which is really important for both my physical and mental health," she said.
Ms Brown also described the emotional toll of the situation: "My home is supposed to be my safe place and right now I can't get in and out. It completely changes the way you feel about your home.
“...It’s also the feeling of being dependent – I’m lucky to have friends nearby who’ve been able to support with phone calls and bringing me food, but you go from feeling like some who’s independent to suddenly being very dependent and vulnerable.”Ms Brown said that a Crabtree staff member told her: "When you live in a block of flats you should expect that at times the lift might break."
She found this response inappropriate, saying: "We pay a premium to live here and it didn't feel like an appropriate response."
As of Thursday June 27, a week after the initial breakdown, there's still no resolution.
"They haven't given me an ETA on when it'll be fixed," Ms Brown said.
The London Fire Brigade is set to inspect the building, with its fire safety team having "spoken with the resident and, as a result, has made contact with the building's managing agent".
Crabtree Property Management has been contacted for comment.
