The mystery of the never-ending presence of scaffolding on a prominent block of flats on the King’s Road can finally be explained – thanks to The Citizen.
For more than four years, local people have noticed and questioned why a newly built residential block called Kingsgate House – known for its distinctive yellow and green solar shutters on its frontage – has been consistently covered by extensive scaffolding.
More often that not, part of the scaffolding netting on the six storey property has been proudly displaying adverts for luxury fashion brands such as Gucci and Prada.
Following extensive enquiries by The Citizen, we can reveal that the building has been in a vicious cycle of works since 2022, which started with the urgent removal of combustible cladding to make it compliant with post-Grenfell regulatory standards.
Since then, other urgent works have been needed, such as multiple leaks to the roof and repairs to the heating system and electrical network. Residents claim that the poor quality of workmanship during the construction phase has led to an array of problems.
The fallout from the works has created “intolerable conditions” for residents and many – especially those living on the top two floors – have had to move out entirely for upto FOUR YEARS.
Kingsgate House, which sits on the junction with Gunter Grove in SW10, is a housing association property owned and managed by the Peabody Trust. It has around 100 residents in 43 flats and was “awarded” to the borough as part of a Section 106 settlement from permissions for a luxury apartment block in De Vere Gardens, Kensington.
But whatever happened during the construction of the block, the legacy of it is still being felt all these years later.
The De Vere Gardens property that led to the Section 106 funding of Kingsgate House
Some people have been shunted from one rental flat to another for years – often at short notice. Peabody has paid all the emergency rental income and has even handed cash payments to residents as compensation for the disruption they have had to endure.
“This has been a living nightmare,” one resident told The Citizen. “The entire building was shoddily built at the outset. There are leaks all over the place – from the roof and through the windows when it rains.
“Many windows don’t even work properly, so the ventilation is terrible, and the heating and electricity systems are faulty. The internal lift hasn’t’t worked for seven months. The whole situation is intolerable.
“The scaffolding has ruined the natural light coming into the flats. Often it feels like you are living under a dark cloud. It can be so bad that people need the lights on all day. Then there is the constant noise from workmen all over the place. It has been a very stressful and unhappy situation.”
Residents were told last October that part of the scaffolding would come down before Christmas, but that deadline passed by and there is still no sign of it being removed. Now, there is talk that some of the residents will have to wait until the summer to move back in.
A spokesperson for Peabody said: “We’re very sorry that this work has taken much longer than expected, and for the inconvenience this has caused residents. We have stayed in touch with residents throughout and will share clearer timescales as soon as we can. Keeping people safe is our priority, and we’re focused on completing the work as quickly as possible withal continuing to support residents.”
The Citizen is trying to establish which building company was responsible for the construction and the value of the contract it won. We have also contacted all three Riverside Councillors for comment.
