Residents fume at ‘defects’ in Nine Elms sky pool development

Residents who live in shared ownership flats, meanwhile, are not allowed to use the pool. Almost 90pc of flats in both towers have been sold, with Ballymore arguing people upscaling to its residences frees up more affordable housing elsewhere.

Cladding issues were also discovered in 2020, while residents recently received a letter saying energy costs would quadruple in 2022 as prices soar. Separately, Ballymore-installed wine coolers were lambasted by tenants in resident groups for not sufficiently chilling wine while in operation. 

Issues great and small have led some occupants to abandon the project. One told the Telegraph they had opted to move out of the flats in favour of a townhouse near Belgravia, following issues with appliances breaking and an increased service charge. 

According to John Mulryan, group managing director at Ballymore, the Embassy Garden’s reputation had led to residents having high expectations. 

“People who are buying into a project like this have certain expectations and those expectations are high,” he says.

“I think that a lot of people who live here are very happy to live here, the majority have a very positive experience – it’s a vocal minority. The proof is in the pudding – we achieve a premium rent compared to everywhere around here.”

Mulryan argues some residents hadn’t been prepared for the realities of home owning, and costs associated with day-to-day wear and tear.

“If you don’t maintain it will deteriorate. Sometimes there’s a view that isn’t the case in a new building, in a way there isn’t with a cottage in the countryside. Maybe as developers we should be better at communicating that at the start – they [the buyers] have lawyers that should be making that clear though.”

Mulryan made clear that he viewed these issues separately to cladding, which he hopes will be rectified. 

“Developers like ourselves need to be prepared to fix defects – no reputable developer is shying away from that,” he says, emphasising that he views the seriousness of these problems in a different light to cladding.

Ballymore’s cladding issues are in the process of being resolved, according to Mulryan, who acknowledges such problems had harmed developers’ reputations in recent years – to the extent to which he questions if a project like Embassy Gardens would be built today. 

“I think after the Olympics, there was a huge interest in London after that huge success. It made idle land possible to redevelop,” he says. “Starting Nine Elms today would make it so much more difficult.”