Residents of an iconic 26-storey London tower block have been left ‘trapped’ after their lifts broke for nearly a week.
Those living on the top floor of the Grade II listed Balfron Tower have had to trek 84 metres up and down stairs – the height of 17 double-decker London buses – every time they need to leave their homes.
Tenants have claimed they are living in a death trap, with some with disabilities have been left stranded in their flats.
They said one of the lifts is frequently temperamental and the second stopped working completely last week. One is the designated fire safety lift.
Vasundhata Gupte, 22, lives on the 15th floor and is forced to scale the stairs despite recovering from a hamstring injury. She has already had to miss some of her course at Queen Mary‘s University.
She told Metro: ‘I am coming back from recovery sessions for my leg, but I then have to walk up 15 flights of stairs so what is even the point in trying to fix it.’
Peter Yu, 58, has a spinal cord injury and says it is ‘excruciatingly painful’ for him to climb to his flat, which is also on the 15th floor.
He and his dog have not been able to leave his rooms since the lifts shut down.
Those living on the top floor of the Grade II listed Balfron Tower have had to trek 84 metres up and down stairs – the height of 17 double-decker London buses – every time they need to leave their homes
Vasundhata Gupte, 22, lives on the 15th floor and is forced to scale the stairs despite recovering from a hamstring injury
Tenants have claimed they are living in a death trap, with some with disabilities have been left stranded in their flats
The business owner has had to survive on frozen leftovers alone and his only access to the outside is through his small balcony.
‘At the end of the day, it’s a safety issue,’ he told London Centric.
He continued to Metro: ‘What if there is a fire? What if I have a heart attack? Who will come and get me? Lives are at stake here.’
Sophie Rushton, who lives on the 21st floor, added that her flatmate, who has mobility issues, and her friend on the 24th floor have both been forced to temporarily move out.
She is able to climb the stairs but said it was exhausting having to carry her 14-year-old dog up and down every time he needed to go to the toilet.
She said: ‘My housemate has had to temporarily move out of the flat because he has mobility issues and he knows there is no way he can manage the stairs – it’s the same with my friend on the 24th floor.’
The tower is thought to be the inspiration for the dystopian novel High-Rise, which was turned into a 2015 film starring Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons and Sienna Miller.
The block in the story descends into anarchy following a series of disputes, including failing lifts.
Sophie Rushton, who lives on the 21st floor, added that her flatmate, who has mobility issues, and her friend on the 24th floor have both been forced to temporarily move out
The tower is thought to be the inspiration for the dystopian novel High-Rise, which was turned into a 2015 film starring Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons and Sienna Miller
The towering brutalist structure was built in 1967, before being refurbished and sold by local housing association Poplar HARCA in the 2010s
It was designed by celebrated architect Erno Goldfinger and is the sister block of the Trellick Tower in Notting Hill.
AHungarian communist, Goldfinger moved to Britain in 1934 and designed the headquarters of the British Communist Party. He was so hated by James Bond author Ian Fleming that the writer named one of his villains after him.
The towering brutalist structure was built in 1967, before being refurbished and sold by local housing association Poplar HARCA in the 2010s.
The block of flats in Poplar, east London is managed by Way of Life, with Mr Yu’s three-bedroom flat costing £3,500 a month in rent and Ms Gupte’s two-bedroom flat costing £2,500.
In an email to residents sent on Thursday, the company said ‘major components within both lifts require replacement parts, which is highly unusual.’
They added that the chaos was ‘incredibly unfortunate’ and they were ‘unsure of the exact length of time that the lifts will be out of service.’
Way of Life said they had offered to help residents with their shopping but Mr Yu said the member of staff had ‘point blank refused’ to take his beyond the seventh floor.
A spokesperson told Metro that the lift was back up and working – but moments later residents told them that they had broken down again.
A post from an anonymous resident said they were ‘begging for help’ as there was ‘no end in sight’ after being trapped in their flat.
Residents said one of the lifts is frequently temperamental and the second stopped working completely last week. One is the designated fire safety lift
The block of flats in Poplar, east London is managed by Way of Life, with Mr Yu’s three-bedroom flat costing £3,500 a month in rent and Ms Gupte’s two-bedroom flat costing £2,500. Pictured: The view over London from the tower
Posting on Reddit, they said: It’s now been over a week, and the building management cannot tell us when they will be fixed. We are living in total uncertainty and isolation.
‘There are elderly residents, people with disabilities—including myself—who have effectively been trapped in our homes for days. I have not been able to leave my home.
‘This situation is inhumane and deeply distressing. I don’t know who to turn to anymore. Is there anyone I can call for real help?’
In desperation, they added: ‘Please—if someone sees this—tell me what to do. I am running out of strength.’
Way Of Life have been contacted for comment.
Hungarian Erno Goldfinger moved to Paris after the Austro-Hungarian empire fell. He settled in Britain in 2934 after marring Crosse and Blackwell heiress Ursula Blackwell.
A supporter of communism, he designed the British Communist Party’s headquarters as well as a building for the Daily Worker.
He also built the Balfron Tower in Poplar, East London (he is pictured, below at the tower in 1968), and its sister building, the Trellick Tower in Kensal Town, West London.
The towers were part of a post-Second World War push to improve housing for ordinary people in the UK.
Goldfinger belived building upwards would mean more green space open for people to enjoy on the ground.
He also thought high-rises would solve the lack of housing after the war and give poor people a way out of the slums and into better quality apartments.
Goldfinger was known for brutalist designs such as this building – Trellick Tower – which is in Kensal Town, London, and was the Poplar tower’s sister building
Prior to branching out into post-war brutalism, Goldfinger build terraces in Hampstead, including his home at 2 Williow Road.
It was this project that drew Fleming’s anger, as he opposed the demolition of several cottages to make way for it. To exact revenge for the destruction of the properties, he created named his villain for the 1959 novel Auric Goldfinger, which the architect got wind of before it went to press.
When Goldfinger threatened to Fleming, Jonathan Cape’s presses told the designer they would make clear in any promotions that all characters were fictitious and would settle out of court.
Fleming was infuriated by this and threatened to rename the villain Goldp****, at which point the architect stopped pursuing legal action.
It wasn’t enough for Fleming to simply name the villain after the Hungarian, he also wrote the character as being just 5ft tall, despite the designer being 6ft2ins.
Things worsened for the architect when the 1964 movie based on Fleming’s novel was released. The designer was bombarded with prank calls in the middle of the night.
Jokers would call him at home to perform their own version of Shirley Bassey’s themetune or do bad Sean Connery impressions down the phone.
In 1967 Goldfinger lived in the Balfron Tower’s apartment 130 to prove the tower’s desirability. Now, as part of a display on Brutalist architecture, the National Trust has restored the flat to its original 1960s style.