Residents on an estate in Childs Hill have received at least £100 each in compensation from Barnet Council after they were left without water for “days on end”.
Barnet Homes, the housing arm of Barnet Council, awarded residents at Granville Road Estate £15,000 in total after water outages affected the three-block estate.
Finchley and Golders Green MP Sarah Sackman, alongside councillors Nigel Young and Giulia Innocenti, said the disruptions, which happened on and off starting from January, were a “deeply difficult time for residents”.
A Barnet Homes spokesperson said the loss of water at the blocks was “thought to be caused by a burst pipe” and the construction company Mullaley, which had been carrying out work nearby, was responsible.
Mullaley denied any wrongdoing but did award residents £3,000, bringing Barnet Homes’ £12,000 offer to £15,000.
Barnet Homes said it had worked with the construction company and Thames Water “to resolve issues”. A spokesperson said: “There was a delay in fully resolving the issue due to the nature of the problem being more complex than initially assessed.”
Some residents went weeks without water and some had dirty water.
Sackman said: “While I am proud to have been part of the campaign for compensation, residents deserve better.
“I am still calling for a formal apology or an acknowledgement of wrongdoing from those responsible for the disruption and a promise for a future prevention strategy.”
A Barnet Homes spokesperson said: “Barnet Homes acknowledges that in the initial stages of the water supply issues, communication with residents was not as frequent and effective as it should have been.
“Barnet Homes has implemented changes to its processes so that residents are kept more informed during any future incident.
“All residents living in the blocks affected by the water supply issues were written to by Barnet Homes’ chief executive, providing a complete explanation of the issues, an unreserved apology, and an offer of £100 compensation.”
The housing arm added it had sent reminders to residents who had not yet claimed the compensation, which was offered in early July.
The spokesperson said, while all the residents affected would get £100 each, Mullaley’s “additional goodwill gesture” would be divided between “residents identified as being most affected by the water supply issues”.
They added they would remain “committed” to working with Mulalley to ensure that “incidents of this nature are not repeated”.
Mulalley was approached for comment.
Local Democracy Reporter Grace Howarth covers the London boroughs of Barnet, Enfield and Haringey as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), reporting on local government, housing, planning and community issues.
