Residents living in two tower blocks in north London have been left fuming after newly installed window glazing panels were fitted inside out.
Those living at the Dorney and Bray tower blocks on the Chalcots Estate in Swiss Cottage were left sweltering after the windows meant their flats reached up to 28 degrees.
Some people who live in the flats affected have complained about sweltering conditions because of the issue.
Camden Council has admitted that 85 flats are impacted in Dorney and it is assessing how many are impacted in Bray.
It confirmed that each new window installation will take around 40 minutes.
One resident, Michelle Urquhart, 59, is a full-time carer for her dad with dementia and says she is in therapy for anxiety.
She told Metro: ‘I can’t describe the stress. I’m actually having therapy for my anxiety.
‘I have to clear everything away from the windows. I can’t tell you the impact and stress this will cause now.
‘My dad will have to go through it as well and it is just not on.’
Michelle, alongside other residents, were evacuated before in 2017 after dangerous cladding, the same as that found in Grenfell, was found in the tower block.
She said her issues with anxiety started then and have been ongoing ever since, and feels like the environment she lives in is increasing her stress levels.
‘I’m fuming as well. What idiot would put the windows in the wrong way around,’ Michelle continued.
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‘I’m angry with how we’ve been put in this position, it’s just not good enough.
‘I’m just furious and I keep thinking of ways I can get around this because I can’t bear the thought of having to move everything.
‘I’m a full-time carer, so even though four hours doesn’t seem a lot, it is for me. What about people who have illnesses and are not well.
‘They think this will be sorted by May but that’s the best outcome at the moment.’
The new window panes installed were already controversial because a report warned they would lead to overheating.
Now there is the prospect that flats will overheat more because of the inside out issue, just in time for spring and summer.
Paul Urquhart, 52, Michelle’s husband, said that the problem has become ‘annoying’.
‘When my flat was done last year, I thought this was all over for me,’ he told Metro.
‘All of a sudden we’ve got to have the glass taken out of the windows, have it turned around and put back in again.
‘It’s going to be annoying and inconvenient because things will have to be moved away from windows.
‘It’s particularly disappointing because we thought it was all over and now we have this issue.’
Grace, who didn’t want to give her last name, added to Metro: ‘I found out they were inside out on Sunday. I thought is this a joke.
‘I initially thought they were going to put on the scaffolding to flip it again but apparently they need to go into each individual flat.
‘This is a waste of time having them come back in the flats. It is something they should have noticed at an earlier stage.’
A spokesperson for Camden Council said: ‘Following checks on the newly installed windows at the Chalcots, the council’s project team have found that some window glazing panels in Dorney and Bray have been incorrectly fitted by the contractor.
‘This is not a safety concern but will affect the reduction of overheating in the summer – so we will be putting this right straight away.
‘We are contacting the residents who this issue affects to arrange for our contractors to install the glazing correctly.
‘Each re-installation takes about 40 minutes and this will not be noisy work.
‘This corrective work does not extend the overall programme as it can be done simultaneously to the remaining work which needs to be done and will be of no extra cost to the council or the taxpayer.
‘All works on the windows will be checked independently once completed. We apologise to the affected residents for this additional work.’
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