“It’s got to the point where we as residents are coming together to sort it”
Residents at Mill View Tower, Dingle. Photo by Colin Lane(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
The dream of living in a tower looking out onto the River Mersey and Liverpool city centre has turned into a nightmare for dozens of people left without vital lifts in a block tarnished by vandalism and disorder. Mill View Tower in Dingle has provided housing in L8 since the 1960s.
The 16-storey block, consisting of 64 flats, is a visual depiction of building design dating back six decades. Its concrete structure casts a long shadow over the skyline towards Liverpool city centre with views from the top floor looking out over to the Wirral and North Wales in the distance.
The ECHO revealed earlier this month how lifts in the building have been out of order for so long, those living in the flats had taken it upon themselves to raise the money needed to get them fixed. Now, residents have spoken of their anger, fear and frustration at the state their tower has been left in.
Concerns were raised about conditions inside the block almost a decade ago according to Liverpool Council, with temperatures inside considered to potentially be a risk to tenants’ health. This led to a letting agent being convicted on 13 separate licensing charges in 2017.
It is understood around £10,000 of unbudgeted costs has been incurred for call outs and repairs in the first half of this year alone at Mill View. The two lifts inside the building have been out of action for four and seven months respectively, with each serving the odd and even floors.
When the ECHO visited Mill View, power to the lifts was shut off entirely. Kieran Jackson has lived at Mill View for a decade with his wife and daughter.
He said: “Something could have been done about this years ago but nothing has. It’s got to the point where we as residents are coming together to sort it.”
George Cross has already written to Clear Building Management, which has managed the building on behalf of leaseholder-controlled L8 Inc RTM Company since 2020, urging them to take action. He said: “They either need to say it’s permanent or fix it.
Mill View Tower, Dingle. Photo by Colin Lane(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
“You just don’t lose the use of the lift, it’s the ability to go anywhere, it’s your freedom. A trip to the newsagent over the road takes half an hour, the graffiti has been here the last four years I’ve been here.
“That’s cosmetic, it has nothing to do with it not working. There’s no end in sight, it feels like forever.
“It’s hard to keep going. You lose friends because people don’t want to come here.”
CBM has managed the building on behalf of leaseholder-controlled L8 Inc RTM Company since 2020. In a statement earlier this month, a spokesperson told the ECHO there have been “numerous incidents of lift failure recently, primarily caused by deliberate vandalism, the most recent involved forcing the doors of the only working lift and causing significant damage to the floor lock.”
Abdullah Mohammad moved into Mill View in 2019. He said: “It’s not up to us to chase them on this, they say there’s CCTV up there allegedly.”
Kieran revealed he had received an email in April 2022 detailing how the cameras would be upgraded but was yet to see any progress on site. He added: “These aren’t new issues here, they’ve been here for years and years.
“There are people with things outside their flats because they can’t get out.”
Carolina Martinez also made Mill View her home six years ago. She spoke of her horror at becoming trapped in the faulty lift with her children Valentina, 11, and Mateo, nine.
She said: “It got stuck three times, on one occasion for an hour. We felt like we couldn’t breathe, we had to smash the glass in the door to get air in, the children were crying.
“I can’t move so well because I have arthritis. I don’t feel safe in there, I feel panic every time.”
Carolina Martinez with her son Mateo and daughter Valentina(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
During the ECHO’s visit to Mill View, the stairwell was covered in graffiti on each floor, with visible burn marks to the walls. Cases containing water taps in the event of a fire were smashed on almost every level, while residents pointed out the door lock to the front of the building was also broken.
Abdullah explained how one of his neighbours with a disabled teenage son has to hoist him over his shoulder to take him down multiple flights of stairs when he wants to get out of the building. He added: “It feels like a lottery, is it going to be there and if it is, will it work?”
Another said: “You’re risking your life, you know it’s going to break, you just don’t know when.” George said: “The dream became a nightmare.”
The ECHO approached Clear Building Management ahead of this story being published but no comment was received. In a statement issued this month, the company acknowledged it faced “ongoing challenges” to repair the lifts. A spokesperson said: “We fully understand how distressing and frustrating this situation is for residents.
“Having both lifts out of service in a high-rise building is not acceptable, and we are doing everything we can to support the RTM board in finding a sustainable and timely solution.” The lifts were last refurbished in 2012 and the Clear Building Management spokesperson said despite regular servicing, repairs, and statutory inspections, recent assessments by specialist engineers the lifts can no longer be safely operated without full refurbishment.
The statement added: “Clear Building Management and the RTM board are now actively exploring funding options to enable the necessary lift refurbishment. A formal Section 20 consultation will be launched in line with the Landlord and Tenant Act to ensure full transparency and resident involvement in the process. We are committed to restoring lift service as quickly as possible.
“Our focus is on delivering a long-term solution that improves reliability and safety for everyone living at Mill View.” The company said a key challenge has been the financial strain caused by several leaseholders – many of whom are overseas investors – falling into long-term arrears on service charge payments, partly due to court backlogs.
Clear Building Management said while residents continue to pay rent, the building’s maintenance fund has been “significantly impacted.” The spokesperson said legal efforts to recover these debts have been delayed by backlogs in the court system, particularly following the Covid-19 pandemic.