David Marshall at home in Barnsbury

A DISABLED pensioner who has spent months house-bound because of a broken lift has told his landlord he will not pay rent until they deliver the essential repairs.

David Marshall, a social tenant who lives on the fourth floor of a Barnsbury housing block owned by the housing association Clarion, has been unable to leave his flat because of the broken lift.

He says the lift has been out of order “three or four” times this year so far, for up to a month on each occasion.

Mr Marshall, 80, suffers from COPD among other health conditions and relies on the lift to leave his flat. Each time it is repaired, he said, Clarion do a “hatchet job” and it breaks down again soon after.

Mr Marshall has told his landlord he is withholding rent until they make permanent repairs, rather than just “patching it up”.

“It annoys the life out of me every time it breaks. I’m pulling my bloody hair out all the time,” he told the Tribune.

“I get so bored. I have to find things to do around the flat, I can’t get out and exercise.”

Clarion has told residents that the lift will be fixed within the next two weeks.

Mr Marshall accused Clarion of neglect, and said that despite living alone with his health conditions, nobody from the housing association ever checks up on him.

In one instance, he told how he collapsed and was unconscious in his flat for four days, and only survived because a relative checked up on him and rushed him to hospital.

The Clarion housing block where the lift has been out of order for months at a time

He added: “I spent 11 weeks in hospital because of the incident, and the only thing Clarion ever did was chase me for my rent and bills, even though I nearly died.

“Not even a phone call to ask how I was. They didn’t care about my health, all they care about is getting their rent money. So I’ve stopped paying my rent now until they repair that bloody lift. And I mean until it’s done properly.”

Mr Marshall has lived in the flat for 35 years but after health complications in later life has requested to be moved to a ground floor flat within the area.

He said that despite mobility issues, he does not wish to be moved into assisted living accommodation because he can live independently, completing all his household chores himself.

Each time the lift breaks, however, he has had to rely on his brother to bring him groceries so that he can cook himself his favourite meal, a fry-up.

A Clarion spokesperson said: “We are very sorry for the issues Mr Marshall is experiencing with the communal lift and recognise the acute impact this has had given his mobility needs.

“Since the issues were first reported in late September we have been working hard to provide a permanent fix which has been delayed by the complexity of the issue.

“We have been in contact with affected residents to provide updates and to offer support including a temporary move while the outage was ongoing.

“Mr Marshall was offered support in the form of a temporary move, but this was declined.

“We have identified the repair required to the lift’s hydraulic tank and expect this to be completed by November 6.

“We are committed to resolving this issue as soon as possible and will continue to offer support and updates to Mr Marshall until then.”