People living in a block of flats are angry after their service charge nearly doubled while problems at the flat seem to be ignored.

Pilgrims Court in Farnol Road, Dartford, had a broken door panel for six weeks, a sinkhole in the car park and rotting pillars that residents asked Hyde Housing to fix.

While the residents were waiting for answers, their service charge was doubled, from £76.76 per month in April 2022 to £146.87 per month in May 2023.

The housing association has apologised for the delays but said the increase is due to a number of contributing factors including “energy, building safety and buildings insurance” costs.

But resident of 13 years, John Davis-Ashdown, says it feels like the company is "taking our money and doing nothing in return".

The 58-year-old has lived in the building for 13 years and fears the pillars in the porch could "collapse at any time."

He said: “Hyde Housing just has contempt for its customers - they take our money and seem to do nothing in return. My wife and I are finding this whole business very stressful. My health is threatened by the never-ending struggle.

"Our service charge has gone up by almost 100% this year but the residents here receive next to nothing in return. Some of our complaints are complaints about complaints because nothing gets done.”

Among Mr Davis-Ashdown's concerns is the amount of time it's taken to replace a glass panel on the door of a communal entrance.

He said: “The frame had broken glass fragments left in place and shards of glass were left lying around after the door was boarded-up. We were told several times that the glass had been replaced but they were just lies.

“The workmanship has been very shoddy, with broken glass still left lying around.”

It took six weeks for the door to be fixed.

He said the posts holding up the porch at the communal entrance are completely rotten.

He said: “This is a serious matter - the posts look like they could collapse at any time.”

This was first reported almost a year ago but work is only set to start in September.

Mr Davis-Ashdown said: “It's difficult to afford an increase of this amount in the cost-of-living crisis, but we have no choice in paying it.”

Dartford Borough Councillor Kelly Grehan has been looking into the issues raised by a number of residents since January.

She said: “Their processes of dealing with repairs, in my opinion, leave a lot to be desired and cause them to continually let tenants down.The lack of communication has also been shocking.

“Unfortunately, in my experience far too many housing associations provide a shockingly bad service, and I encourage anyone receiving it to make complaints and go to the ombudsman if necessary.”

As well as the building issues there is also a large sinkhole which Mr Davis-Ashdown says has put a number of the parking spaces out of action.

He said it was fenced-off when it first appeared about ten months ago, but no work has been done since.

Cllr Grehan said she finds this particularly frustrating.

“The fact the sinkhole is still not fixed is deplorable,” she said. ”It's an area with many older people who worry about falling.”

Tony Morgan, Hyde’s Head of Housing said: “I would like to apologise to our customer for the problems he is experiencing at Pilgrims Court and for the delays in repairs being carried out - I know how frustrating it is.”

He explained the increase in service charges was due to a number of “contributing factors” including an increase in “the cost of providing some of the services to keep our homes and buildings decent” and he revealed it had particularly affected the areas of “energy, building safety and buildings insurance”

He said the housing association was trying its best to keep costs down: “We’re very conscious of the cost-of-living crisis and the pressure that’s being put on our customers.

“We’re doing everything we can to help by negotiating better prices with our suppliers and by being more efficient in the way we do things.”

“I know that things have taken longer than they should to get resolved at Pilgrims Court (we required specialist contractors to carry out the repairs), but I would like to assure our customers that we are working with our contractors to get the repairs completed as quickly as possible.

“The communal glass door has been replaced and the repairs to the pillars and sinkhole are expected to start soon.”