Despite progress, residents of Coniston House are still suffering after disastrous roof extension works
Eric Estate residents in Mile End report a slight improvement with East End Homes’ new interim CEO, yet for many, their trust has been irreparably broken by the trail of unfulfilled promises.
‘You don’t care about the residents,’ one woman shouts at the East End Homes leadership team during their latest updates meeting on 23 July.
I was told later by residents that this had been the calmest meeting yet.
Residents of the Eric Estate in Mile End have been experiencing severe flooding and mould for nearly two years after damage to the roof and the water mains due to works to add two stories for extra flats.
Of all the properties within the Eric Estate, Coniston House was the worst affected, with many forced to vacate their homes without knowing when – or if – they’d be moving back.
It’s been nine months since Yvonne Arrowsmith became interim CEO, and three months since East End Homes announced it was separating from construction partner Gracewood Group and bringing building works in-house.
In this recent flurry of activity, there has been progress. East End Homes’ first deadline – work beginning at Coniston House, Windermere House and Buttersmere House on the 9 June – was met, and Arrowsmith confirmed that residents will be able to move back into their homes in December 2025 at the latest.
‘Hopefully everyone’s feeling more positive,’ Arrowsmith said, followed by a wave of tuts and laughter.
For 89-year-old Henry Mamsell, positivity is a hard ask. He and his 91-year-old wife had lived at Coniston House since it was first built in the 60s, the first and only people to have ever lived in their flat. After over five decades of living there, their home became a living nightmare; he tells stories of water cascading from the roof in the middle of the night and thick mould collecting on the walls.
Their son, Peter, told me, ‘I could hear him on the phone, his voice shaking, he’s had triple heart bypass. He shouldn’t be up at 3 o’clock in the morning worrying about buckets. Once, the water was coming out the light fittings. I said do not put the electric on. […] He said, well I don’t know how long the torch batteries are lasting.’
Since then, Henry and his wife have been temporarily housed in an Airbnb paid for by East End Homes in Oxford near Peter. When they first moved, they had no assurances on how long they’d be there or when they’d have to move. Recently, it’s been agreed that their Airbnb stay will be reviewed every three months. However, there are no temporary GP spaces nearby, so the couple have to travel back to London to have medical check-ups.
The family have seen a slight improvement since the new East End Homes leadership came in. Peter said, ‘They seem more in control. I thought it was very, very questionable before – horrid in fact. You’d ring up and you were an inconvenience.’
I asked Henry if he had hope that the issues would be solved soon: ‘I’ve lost all hope with what’s been going on because it’s been going on so long.’
Spence is one of the lucky ones. He tells the Slice that he and his wife, Debbie, are some of the only people who have a permanent home. They were relocated by the Council from their home of 37 years to a place in Canary Wharf as Spence has a heart condition: the rent’s more expensive, but it’s warm, safe and a far cry from their home at Coniston.
I asked him if he trusts that the problems will get fixed. He seemed sceptical.
Spence told the Slice, ‘It’s been handled very badly. I’m not saying it was on purpose, but it has been handled very badly and it could have been a lot better for everyone. Most of us are reasonable people. Not all screaming and shouting, more than reasonable. You can see we’ve gone through a lot of stress.’
Martin Donkin, Chair of Coniston House Tenants and Residents Association (CHTRA), is himself indefinitely in an Airbnb paid for by East End Homes. He too lived in Coniston House and has lived in several temporary properties over the last few years due to the flooding and mould.
For Donkin, having new East End Homes leadership does not solve the central issue: justice.
He said, ‘It’s about accountability […] I think there needs to be some sort of investigation to see how this was allowed to happen, and I think we’re still quite a long way from that happening.’
One positive from the July updates meeting for Donkin was the promise that the residents would receive the original risk assessment for the disastrous roof extension works – something Donkin says he’s been requesting since September 2023 to see if there were any oversights.
Donkin is also waiting on an independent structural engineer to review the original building works, something East End Homes has commissioned, which should shed further light on the cause of the issues residents have faced.
‘Until we’ve got the risk assessment and can show that East End Homes didn’t properly think about the safety and wellbeing of everybody and who was responsible for that decision, I think we’re not going to have justice.’
Yvonne Arrowsmith said, ‘We are now moving towards the completion of the building works with the first 2 blocks due to complete by the end of this year. We have resolved the major leaks, and the buildings will be fully watertight shortly. We are now assessing the work to be done to move people back into their homes.
‘East End Homes has acknowledged the issues at the Eric Street Development and accepted responsibility, having apologised both in writing and in person to those residents who have been affected. Our priority is to get them back safely in their homes, and to deliver much-needed new social homes for the residents of Tower Hamlets.’
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