Residents of a Mottingham tower block thought they were landing a perfect deal when the block was bought off Lewisham Council by L&Q Homes as part of a Decent Homes Programme.

However those living there soon found, once the sheen of their new kitchen wore off, that they were left with broken homes and no working plumbing.

“We all voted them in for them to do all these improvements and renovations of these flats” said 34-year-old Katie Hanlon, who lives in one of the flats.

She, along with the other residents of the flats, were originally happy with their decision to vote in L&Q to take over from Lewisham Council because they redesigned their kitchens and rooms.

It is a decision Katie regrets now: “The kitchen didn’t look as nice and the radiators didn’t look as nice but at least it worked.”

“It’s an absolute nightmare for us now. I haven’t had use of my washing machine for three years.

“There is one guy who is washing in his kitchen because he can’t use his bathroom.”

Hayley Cummins, 32, and her husband Paul have been having problems with plumbing and heating for years but said constant emails between them and L&Q got them nowhere.

Mrs Cummins told News Shopper: “It got so bad that our neighbour underneath has water coming through her walls into her bathroom and on floor two she literally had water running down her wall like a water feature.

“They have replaced our heavy duty fire doors from Lewisham council with very thin light wooden doors which just open and close when we have high wind.

“They promised so much but all has failed there residents, we are probably one tower block out of millions that L&Q are letting down.

“We are in the process of emails with the housing ombudsman but if this does not work then we will look into legal action as a group of residents - not just one flat.”

Stephen Grimmer, director of service delivery at Kingsfield House, apologised for the problems and said they will look into providing compensation for the residents.

He told News Shopper: “We are sincerely sorry for failing to resolve the drainage problems at Kingsfield House in a timely manner.

“We now have a clear and urgent plan for remedial works and will continue to provide regular updates to residents. We will consider making awards of compensation based on the circumstances of each case."