Neighbours fed up with problems at Sunderland's Mowbray Apartments

Neighbours living in a city centre apartment complex say they are fed up with a building problems making their lives a misery.

A group of residents from the Mowbray Apartments, on the corner of Borough Road and Toward Road, contacted the Echo after forming an 18-strong action group, Mowbray Voices.

In recent months, they have had to put up with a range of problems, including a malfunctioning fire alarm going off at all hours.

They are tenants of housing association Gentoo, leaseholders and private tenants. Gentoo owns the building, which is maintained by Kingston Property Management.

Gentoo says it is taking the issues very seriously, and stressed the fire alarm issue had now been fixed.

Residents say there has been a longstanding issue with maintenance not being attended to.

The Echo has seen evidence of drug paraphernalia on the building's stairwell, but understands this occurred some time ago.

Other complaints include leaks, a broken swipe system which caused a lock to break and cause a security issue, dirty window exteriors, litter in the garden, overgrown trees blocking light and views, internal cleaning issues and mould.

Julie Woods, who has lived in the Mowbray for seven years, emailed the Echo on November 30 saying: "Gentoo remains the landlord/owner of the building. We have complained to them numerous times, mostly there has been no response from either Gentoo or Kingston.

"Gentoo's final response was to refer us back to Kingston Property Management.

"The communal windows have not been cleaned for at least five years. The outdoor landscaped area is overgrown and unsightly, the inside ornamental garden was damaged last year when the artificial trees collapsed.

"It was badly damaged when Kingston removed them and they have done nothing to repair the damage. There is serious water ingress in the building. The rain pours down the stairs at times, some residents have leaks and issues with mould in the apartments.

"Despite all this, no one comes, no one responds to us and everyone with responsibility for this building is not doing their job."

However, the Echo understands that since speaking with residents, repairs and cleaning have taken place on the communal ground floor, the bin store has been jetwashed, external landscaping has been carried out and a surveyor has visited to make a report on leaks.

Engineers have also been out and the fire alarm system is now back to full working order while faults on individual detectors have been repaired.

A Gentoo spokesperson said: “Gentoo takes all customer complaints and concerns very seriously and is already taking action to address all of the issues raised as a priority for residents in the Mowbray, working alongside Kingston Property Services (KPS), our managing agent that has responsibility for the maintenance of the building on our behalf.

"Gentoo colleagues, along with a representative of KPS, attended The Mowbray recently to hear directly from customers about their experiences and how best these matters can be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.

"After reports of people gaining unauthorised access to the Mowbray, we are looking at how security can be improved throughout the building to prevent this from happening further and we are contacting residents about this.

"Gentoo is fully committed to ensuring the issues raised are addressed and will also arrange for a January follow-up meeting to ensure those living in the Mowbray are kept updated and can give valuable feedback on how all agreed works have progressed.”

Kingston Property Management have been approached for comment.