‘We’re living in squalor – but the council is billing us £66k for net zero heating’

As social housing estates go, Lillington and Longmore Gardens is certainly easy on the eye.

Originally built in 1961 to replace dilapidated housing in Vauxhall Bridge Road in Pimlico, the Grade II-listed homes were made using red brick taken from the Victorian church of St.James the Less. In 2020, it was used as a filmset for the BBC One drama Roadkill, starring Hugh Laurie and Helen McCrory.

But behind the rustic red-brick facade, Lillington is in ruin – its heating and hot water system is buckling. The council's solution? To invest in a new eco-friendly heating system which would hit residents with service charge bills of up to nearly £70,000.

Labour-led Westminster City Council is projected to spend £185m on the scheme which it said will contribute to the local authority hitting its target of becoming net zero by 2030.

The so-called "heat network" would take heat from heat pumps, solar and geothermal sources. Such networks are set to serve a fifth of households by 2050, under ambitions plotted by Ed Miliband, the energy secretary.

But for the Lillington and Longmore residents who have already seen service charges jump by as much as 150pc while basic repairs remain unresolved, the fact they are being lined up to foot the bill for the green overhaul clearly rankles.

Councillors argue the works can no longer be avoided – copper pipes embedded within the concrete are corroding, causing water to leak straight into council tenants' homes. When The Telegraph visited the estate, stalactites could be seen hovering outside residents' flats.

In the underground car park, the stench of sewage still lingers after wastewater flooded through the ceiling. Much of the water has since dried up, but overhead pipes continue to leak, and much of the car park remains unused. In a corner, a BMW covered with wastewater has not yet been cleaned.

In 2021, the community centre was completely submerged by water from burst pipes.

Residents' flats have similarly flooded, with many forced to buy water absorbers while they await repairs. Kenneth Slater, 84, told local news site MyLondon in January that his late wife's last Christmas was spent without hot water.

Lillington and Longmore Gardens' heating system is the oldest of its kind in Britain. Originally, it used waste heat from Battersea Power Station, a mile to the south, but now it relies on three gas boilers.

One of these boilers lies directly beneath the home of Andie Williams, 40, who has lived in the block for 14 years. The heat from the boiler, combined with the residual damp from leaks, has made her home a hotbed for tropical ants.

She said: "The ceiling has come down in every room of the flat. I have to keep my foodstuff in a box in the front room because I can't store it in the kitchen – it's a mess and no one is taking it seriously.

"I am constantly cleaning mould but it always comes back, so I can't breathe. I am on inhalers I never used to use, and my children are the same. My son, who is preparing for his GCSEs, has to sleep on a mattress on the floor because we can't use the bedroom.

"My children say we have a home, but we're homeless."

Westminter Council said it is working with Ms Williams on securing another property, and she has been offered an alternative home but did not accept.

This week, residents were told that the estate's heating system would finally be modified.

Some of these costs will be bourne by residents. For the largest home on the estate, it could cost up to £66,000, which would be paid for in increased service charges, or through tenants' equity. A spokesman for the council said figures were projections, and that keeping costs down was "a priority".

Councillor Liza Begum, cabinet member for housing services, said replacing the system was the only long-term solution to the building's issues with leaks.

Earnest Stafford has been leading a fightback against the council's plans. He told The Telegraph: "Our community needs action, not promises. As the Russian proverb says, 'the goat that belongs to everyone starves to death' – no one is truly in charge."

The estate was once home to D-Day veteran Percival "Percy" Chafer, 104, who in July told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he felt trapped in his own home as the lift he relied on often broke down.

He said: "I feel rotten. It's like being in a prison, really. I've seen these four walls – I don't know – a million times?"

Mr Chafer, who was a member of the supported living scheme, and had been living alone for 24 years after his wife died in October. His neighbour, Robert, told The Telegraph the veteran's door had been left unlocked for 13 hours before his body was found.

Residents are fearful that if they speak out against the rise in service charges, their tenancies may be at risk.

A member of the residents' panel for Churchill Gardens, another Westminster social housing estate due to overhaul its heating system, said service charges had risen by as much as 75pc.

He said: "I was billed £737 last year, and £1,649 this year. In 2021 my service charge for the year was £2,010 – that's gone up to £3,558.

"The council wants to meet their green criteria, but the issue is that the Power Distribution and Switching Unit is owned by Westminster. Therefore it's top of their list for getting rid of carbon emissions, but that's not a fair way of looking at it."

Cllr Begum said: "The heating system needs to be replaced as a long-term solution to continuous leaks and disruption on the estate.

"We aim to provide cheap, efficient energy to residents and are working with them to find the best possible solution.

"The figures stated are early projections and the final costs will be subject to full survey, design, tender and consultation. Keeping costs down is a priority and we'll provide as much support as we can."