Glasgow social housing tenants in rally over mouldy water tanks

Over 100 residents of Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) high-rise flats in Knightswood have signed a letter demanding the organisation and the council take action to clean up the filthy tanks. 

They protested outside the housing association’s empty Dykebar Avenue office yesterday afternoon over the alleged negligence. 

GHA insist that the tanks were inspected and tested for use and drinking safety every year. 

Tenants affiliated with the Living Rent tenants’ union branch in the westerly part of the city said they felt they were being denied basic human rights. 

Tomasz Kwiatkowski, of 150 Kestrel Road, said: “No person should have use water from a mouldy water tank. The UK recognises ‘safe water’ as a human right, and people living in our blocks are not aliens.”

There are also more general complaints about the flats’ apparent state of repair. 

Pictures seen by the Glasgow Times appear to show evidence of water ingress in a home and residents had other grievances about their flats. 

Another union member, Rita Mirundi, of Lincoln Avenue, said: “My bath has had all the panelling taken off it, exposing the piping, and I’ve also been left with a hole in the wall where a panel was removed. 

“An inspector came in and looked at the hole in the bathroom wall, and left, saying he’ll let me know when it can be rebuilt. The next person never showed. 

“So, I still have gaping holes in the bathroom wall. Hoping against hope that no rats come through.”

A spokeswoman for GHA said she could not understand why there was a protest about the issue and said none of the complainants had contacted the housing association about their concerns. 

She added: “We have no record of any outstanding repairs related to water tanks or the quality of the drinking water in these blocks.  We have checked our records for the past two years and no issues have been identified relating to the quality of drinking water from water tanks.”

“On a more general basis, any tenant who needs an emergency or essential repair, such as the lady with a problem in her bathroom, should call or email us or speak to their housing officer and we’ll do all we can to sort it as quickly as possible.”

Living Rent want the council’s environmental health team to come out and investigate. 

Protest organiser James Roberts said: “Tenants who have lived in the flats for a number of years reported the tanks never having been cleaned or serviced.

"These initial discussions led to more tenants revealing serious problems with plumbing in a serious state of disrepair, water ingress between flats, and numerous cases of damp and black mould. 

“With GHA having ignored these increasingly serious problems for a considerable length of time, the members decided to write and build support for a collective letter calling on environmental health to launch a full investigation into their concerns.”

Glasgow city council encouraged tenants concerned about the quality of their drinking water to contact the council so it can analyse it. A spokesman added that Living Rent had not contacted the council about its members’ concerns.