1. Broken Amenities

Since March 2025, Odyssey House has transitioned from a secure residential block to an "open-access" building. Southern Housing is currently collecting £748.80 per year for a security system that does not exist and doors that do not lock.

1. The Intercom Failure

Status: 🔴 CRITICAL (Broken since August 4, 2025)

The Noralsy GSM intercom system is completely dead. This is not a mechanical failure; it is an administrative one. Southern Housing failed to pay the BT line rental, leading to the dedicated line being ceased.

• The Impact on Life: You cannot buzz in guests. You cannot receive food deliveries. Important post and parcels are routinely missed or lost because couriers cannot contact residents.
• The "System Error": Southern Housing claimed for weeks that a job was "with contractors," only to later admit that no job was ever sent due to an internal system error.
• Current State: 220+ days of total outage.

They've almost stopped attempting entirely. I had to get things redirected to a post office because they just kept not attempting and it had been a week.

Impact of broken intercom on postal deliveries

I've just had an argument with the postie. He was shouting at me asking me why the buzzer isn't working... I said there's no need to shout at me, it's just as annoying for us as it is for you. You've called me and I've come straight down, I can't get to the front door any quicker.

Postal worker frustration due to broken intercom

2. Unsecured Access

Status: 🟠 URGENT

Because the intercom is broken and the main doors frequently fail to latch or lock, the building is effectively open to the street.

• Unauthorised Entry: There have been documented reports of non-residents wandering the hallways of the building next-door.
• Security Incident: On November 13, 2025, three men were arrested for GBH directly outside the block. At the time, the doors were not latching.

3. The Floor 2 Fire Door

Status: 🔴 LIFE SAFETY BREACH

The fire door on Floor 2 is mechanically defective. It is "sticky" and jams in the frame, making it jam and unable to open. For safety reasons it is propped open.

• The Illegal Solution: While propping it open is necessary for safety reasons, it risks our insurance and must be fixed.
• The Danger: In the event of a fire, this propped-open door destroys the "fire compartmentation" of the building, allowing smoke and flames to travel freely up the stairwell.
• The Negligence: Southern Housing has been aware of this specific door since March 2025. It has been propped open for over a year.

What We're Paying For (vs. What We Get)

Despite these failures, Southern Housing continues to bill us for "services" that are not being delivered:

The Pattern of Response

The "Data Room" contains the full archive of ignored emails and mishandled complaints. The pattern is always the same:

1. Report: Resident reports a safety/security issue.
2. Delay: Southern claims a contractor has been booked (they haven't).
3. Excuse: Southern blames "system errors" or "third-party providers."
4. Inaction: The door remains broken. The bill remains the same.

Action Plan & Status

We are no longer waiting for Southern to "find" our repair jobs in their system. We are taking legal action to stop the charges.

Next Step: See how we are challenging these specific costs in the Financial Review or view the Intercom Dispute for our draft Tribunal application.