Residents “trapped” for weeks after lift failure at assisted living complex

Residents at an assisted-living facility in Tameside say they have been left “trapped” on upper floors for nearly two months following an ongoing lift breakdown - and claim housing provider Jigsaw Homes has failed to resolve the issue despite repeated complaints.

The lift, which residents rely on to safely leave the building, first went out of service on 9^th October. According to one resident who contacted the Tameside Reporter, attempts to repair it have been short-lived.

“Every time someone came out to fix it, the lift worked for about 25 minutes and then broke down again,” the resident said. “The last engineer simply reset it even though they knew there were still faults. We’ve complained over and over but nothing seems to be getting done. With the time and money they’ve spent on repairs, they could have replaced the lift by now.”

The resident added that many people living in the building rely entirely on the lift due to mobility issues and have been effectively unable to leave their flats since October. “It’s just unacceptable that it’s taking this long,” they said.

A spokesperson for Jigsaw Homes Tameside acknowledged the disruption and issued an apology to residents: “We understand how frustrating this has been for our residents and apologise for the inconvenience caused by the lift being intermittently out of service.

“Our appointed contractor services the lift monthly and has been attempting repairs since the issue with the lift arose in October. To complete this work, new bespoke parts are needed, and these are being sourced from across Europe, causing unavoidable delays.

“We have and will continue to keep our residents updated as we work with our contractor to try resolve this as quickly as we can. We have offered to temporarily move any residents who struggle to manage the stairs, but no residents have opted to move out.

“In the meantime, our colleagues are assisting residents with carrying shopping and laundry, and we are looking to install a temporary stair lift until the lift can be fully repaired.”