Trust faces legal action over noise

A group of social housing tenants are planning
to take their landlord to court, claiming that the poor condition
of their properties has damaged their mental health and left them
unable to work.

The
tenants, who live in flats owned by London & Quadrant housing
trust, claim that the landlord’s failure to install sound
insulation means they are disturbed by noise from their
neighbours.

One of
the tenants, Michele Celeste, who has lived in his conversion flat
in Brixton for 15 years, said: “The noise has made me so ill that I
cannot work and am on incapacity benefit.”

Celeste, who is an award-winning
playwright, added that he was on medication for depression and was
seeing a psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in south
London.

But a
spokesperson for London & Quadrant said tests done by Lambeth
Council environmental health officers at Celeste’s home had shown
that the tenants were not suffering from excessive
noise.

“In
extreme cases of noise pollution L&Q carries out improvements
to its homes,” he added.

The
government has announced plans to improve soundproofing in new or
newly converted properties. More than two-thirds of all complaints
received by local environmental health officers relate to domestic
noise.