A young Bristol mum says she is sleeping next to the front door of her flat as she is worried about her child's safety. The Imperial Apartments resident says the fault means the door is not secure from the inside, and she is concerned about her toddler opening it and wandering around the apartment block in South Bristol.
Bristol Live has previously reported on concerns from various residents at the converted office block, who expressed worries about antisocial behaviour and living conditions there. However, Imperial was found to be suitable for children after a review last year and the city council restarted housing families with children there.
Now a 21-year-old mother living there, who asked to remain anonymous, raised concerns about the security and maintenance of the building. She said: "The ideal plan is to run for the hills and get out of this building altogether.
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"I don’t understand how anyone can live here." She says she has resorted to moving her mattress into the hallway to sleep, so she can block the door.
She said her door frame had come loose, and it's possible for her child to pull it open and get out of their apartment. She said she has tried to glue the frame herself and has had a chain put on the door, but she added: “I need a new lock so I can use a key from the inside.
"In the early hours of the morning my child has made a beeline for the front door and has managed to pull it back to get out. I’m now sleeping on a mattress next to the front door so I can stop this from happening."
She said she has raised the issue with management but claims she was "laughed at", adding: "When I say I need to speak to someone, I get forms to fill out, no-one, no-one at all wants to listen." She also said she was worried about the lack of security on a particular day of the week and had emailed the “top bosses” of management about her safety concerns in the building, which is owned by Caridon.
The mother claims she has been dealing with her front door security problems since last year and said she also feels afraid as she has been harassed by men in the building, calling it “disturbing and disgusting”. She added that there are many young children living in the apartment block.
Imperial Apartments is the former Parkview office block in Hengrove, which was converted into flats and opened in 2020. Flats are rented out privately and by Bristol City Council.
Concerns from residents there reported by Bristol Live and other media outlets led to a call to review the suitability of the block for housing children. In January 2022 Bristol MP Karin Smyth asked the council to stop housing children there.
In February 2022, Bristol mayor Marvin Rees announced a pause on sending families to Imperial Apartments while a review took place. Released in June 2022, the review found that in line with legislation considering ‘suitability’, the block was “suitable for many families with children”.
The review assessed suitability on multiple factors, including physical condition of accommodation, affordability, overcrowding and risk of violence from any person. There are 465 units at Imperial Apartments and in June last year, nearly one third had children living in them.
A Bristol City Council spokesperson said that as Imperial Apartments is a privately managed block, repairs and maintenance are the sole responsibility of the landlord. He added while they have no say over repairs and maintenance, “the council maintains regular communications with the landlord about its responsibilities and seeks every opportunity to scrutinise their actions".
Caridon has previously said it offers a large community development where residents live together and interact, but recognised this was not for everyone but that Imperial Apartment had a positive atmosphere. It has not yet responded to a request for comment about the mum's concerns.
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