Town Hall commits £24 million over four years to upgrade ‘aged’ lift stock

Residents at Queensbridge Road raised concerns over broken-down lifts in 2021. Photograph: Google Streetview

Lifts across the council’s homes and estates are to be revamped as part of a £24 million spend in the next two to four years.

Hackney Council gave the thumbs-up to the proposal on Monday 2 September at its cabinet procurement and insourcing committee meeting.

The report put before the committee stated there had been a rise in lift breakdowns, defective parts and other factors making it harder to keep lifts running at all times

Between 2008 and 2018, the council renewed just 61 lifts out of around 615 lifts now in operation.

The committee report admits that “this level of progress has not allowed the necessary modernisation of the current lift stock to be maintained to a high standard.”

The council estimates that replacing all 600 lifts across the borough over a 20-year period would cost £3.2m per year.

It says that due to the lack of recent “capital works”, it expects that there will be a large number of lifts requiring replacement or major replacement of parts over the next four years and so the Town Hall has revised the estimated cost upwards to £6 million per year.

Thirty-nine lifts have been made a priority for the first 12 months. The council plans to appoint at least three contractors working at the same time to replace those “lifts that are in dire need of modernisation”.

The council has a legal duty under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 to look after services and equipment including lifts, within its homes and estates.

The report presented to the committee stressed the council’s commitment to social housing, declaring that it is “both a privilege and a duty to repair and maintain the Council’s homes and estates, where more than 30,000 tenants and leaseholders live and are their beating heart.”

Cllr Carole Williams praised the report: “We know from casework and experience that when a lift goes down it has a massive impact on quality of life.”

Cllr Robert Chapman, the cabinet member for finance, insourcing and customer service said: “This is such an important area to get right now, and I’m really glad we have these robust proposals to help get all our lifts working. One of the biggest bugbears our residents have is the failure of lifts in certain areas.”

The decision comes three years after the death of a resident of 355 Queensbridge Road block tower block in 2020 sparked “deep concerns” over the council’s lack of response to complaints over broken-down lifts, which had forced elderly people to climb the stairs.

In the aftermath, residents challenged the council over its “dreadful” service in ignoring lifts having been long out of service.

The maintenance decision also follows a tricky summer for the council over the safety of its social housing stock.

In August this year, a report from the Regulator of Social Housing found that the Town Hall’s housing department was guilty of “serious failings” over a lack of gas and electrical safety in thousands of council homes across Hackney.

The findings prompted calls from Cllr Alastair Binnie-Lubbock, co-leader of Hackney Green party, for the resignation of Cllr Clayeon McKenzie, the cabinet member for housing services and resident participation.