Councillors demand action after worsening communal heating and hot water outages at Orchard Village.

Councillors Matt Stanton and Trevor McKeever write in the Havering Daily.

Despite repeated engagement with SSE, councillors say residents are still facing unacceptable levels of disruption

Beam Park councillors Matthew Stanton and Trevor McKeever have called for urgent action following repeated failures of the communal heating and hot water network at Orchard Village.

Residents have faced ongoing disruption over a number of years, with outages continuing into 2026 despite previous repair works being carried out by operator SSE.

A review of outage records by the councillors shows a persistent pattern of failures:

• 2026 (to date): at least 10 outages, including multiple interruptions within short timeframes
• 2025: at least 14 outages
• 2024: at least 11 outages
• 2023: at least 7 outages
• 2022: at least 3 recorded outages

The network supplies heating and hot water to hundreds of homes, with residents unable to switch to an alternative provider.

Cllr Matthew Stanton said:

“Residents are being let down by a system they are locked into and cannot leave. Heating and hot water aren’t luxuries, they are basic essentials. People should be able to live with dignity and comfort in their own homes, and at the moment, that simply isn’t happening.”

SSE previously carried out works in late 2025 to address known faults within the system. However, outages have continued at a similar frequency.

Cllr Trevor McKeever added:

“If an electricity network kept failing, even for short periods, across hundreds of homes, it would be treated as a serious issue. The same standard should apply here: because access to heating and hot water is just as fundamental.”

The councillors have now written to SSE demanding answers on the cause of the continued failures and a clear plan to improve reliability. They have also called on housing provider Clarion to take a more active role in holding SSE to account on behalf of residents.

Cllr Stanton said:

“Compensation after the fact is not enough. Residents deserve a system that works reliably day in, day out. At the moment, that simply isn’t happening.”

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