Residents fighting to improve conditions on their “cesspit” of a housing block said they were not willing to pay for services they never received.

Several householders living in Monarch Parade, a housing block opposite Mitcham library in London Road, said they were refusing to pay their property manager after nearly 10 years of complaining about broken doors and filthy communal areas.

One resident, Dalbir Rawat, even managed to win a tribunal in April 2011 against the building’s owners Goldplaza, in which he won a big reduction in the level of his service charges due to the poor condition of the block.

Mr Rawat said: “They don’t do anything and it’s been like that for the last eight years.

"Now I refuse to pay them anything. Why should I? This place has become a cesspit.

“But I would rather pay and get a good service. I’m stuck in a situation where I’m forced to live here because of my mortgage; I can’t afford to sell this flat because the market is bad.”

Mitcham and Morden MP Siobhain McDonagh, who visited the estate last week, said: “Some of these residents have been fighting for better services for several years now and this needs to be sorted out.

“Some of the conditions are absolutely appalling and I don’t think people should be prepared to put up with it any longer.”

The Wimbledon Guardian contacted the building’s property manager, Sandeep Singh Kohli of north London-based HML Hathaways, but was not given a reply.

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