Kingswear Gardens in Medway might see two-decade sewage problems solved
A near two-decade-long fight with a housing association over sewage problems could finally be resolved – but it’s not over yet.
Several residents living in Kingswear Gardens have faced years of sewage problems.
These included regular blockages in downstairs bathrooms, leading to sewage leaking into gardens and backing up through sinks, and serious leaks from upstairs bathrooms into kitchens, causing appliances to short-circuit.
The residents accused landlord Orbit of being inefficient and “deliberately frustrating” when it came to fixing the problems.
As issues have continued, one of those affected, Heru Asesimba, continued to press the housing association to follow through on promised improvements.
He even took it to court, resulting in a settlement where it was given a list of refurbishments and works for his property to be completed in 120 days.
Some of these were made, including new floors, doors, and a kitchen suite, however, others resulted in further grief.
Heru said an incorrect washer caused a pipe to burst and flood the ground floor of the house, meaning the new flooring needed to be replaced again.
But a major concern emerged when one of his neighbours, who had also been affected by overflowing sewage, had separate dealings with Southern Water.
It told him it was moving the family from the property due to contamination fears.
It said the home would need floors torn up, cleaned and changed, the kitchen replaced, and many other works.
Heru said in all the years of problems, Orbit had never raised any concerns about possible contamination and had not tested any of the properties.
He added:
“My question was, ‘I’ve been here 19 years, my neighbour’s been here only four’.
“It started to play on my mind. I remembered they’d never tested underneath the flooring and I have it on their repair logs from Orbit’s own people that they believe sewage would definitely have gone and soaked into the flooring.
“So my question was, ‘if you’ve not done any tests, how do you know this house is safe’?”
Heru contacted Southern Water and the same day someone was sent to test his water supply for contamination and examine the pipes.
This visit threw up another issue as the engineer said there was no mention of previous pipe inspections, which should have been done by Orbit.
Heru asked that this and a musty smell in the property, which could indicate contamination, be included in Southern Water’s report for future reference.
However, when Southern Water later called and he checked those details had been documented, he was told the report had also been CC’d to an Orbit employee without his knowledge.
It transpired that when the engineer had left the property and was filing his report in his van, he was approached by a man who identified himself as the block manager for the row of properties.
He insisted he must be emailed the report, even though Heru says he had never met him and had no clue if he was responsible for his property.
After Southern Water became involved and contamination tests raised, Orbit moved the family out of the property and into a hotel.
Since then, Heru’s home has been put in the hands of a special team at Orbit, which is specifically focused on resolving the problems.
He says there’s room for optimism – but it shouldn’t have taken the amount of effort he’s taken to complain.
He continued:
“I’m grateful my situation appears to be changing, but until it does, I’m not letting up.
“There’s a lot of things we don’t even bother complaining about because we know they won’t do anything about it.
“But it’s come to a head now, 17 years, nearly two decades of the same problem.
“They’ve never tested for contamination from the first time I reported it in 2009.
“I’ve been mugged off and to have it done by the people that you’re supposed to trust as your housing association, your landlord, it’s disgusting.”
The dad-of-two says even though he appears to be seeing results, the whole saga has taken its toll.
He continued: “I’ve been off work for about two and a half weeks because of it all, it’s been extremely trying for my family.
“Even when we did finally get moved out, I’ve been told we’re going to have to throw my soft furnishings and all our clothes away because of this potential contamination.
“So we had two changes of clothes and we had no money at the time because I’ve been out of work and Orbit didn’t sort anything out for five days until they gave us £140 in ASDA vouchers.
“I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but for four adults and a child to clothe themselves that’s just not good enough.
“But we’ve never been asked about our health, there’s never been any thought towards that at all even though we had sewage coming up into our home for years and years.”
At the moment, the plan is for the family to return home at the end of this month.
An Orbit spokesperson said:
“Following a sewage leak, we completed a full programme of drainage remedial works to his home in August 2025, including installing a new kitchen, flooring and bathroom, as well as undertaking repairs to the manhole and surrounding paving.
“We recognise these works took longer than we would have liked and are sorry for the inconvenience and distress that this caused Mr Asesimba.
“Following the completion of the works last year, he contacted us to raise concerns about the air and water quality in his home.
“We arranged alternative accommodation for Mr Asesimba and the members of his family included as part of his formal household, while we undertake air and water testing this week as a precautionary measure.
“We have also supported the family with costs for food, including hotel meal allowances, reimbursement for some expenses and a supermarket voucher.
“We’re in regular contact with Mr Asesimba and will update him once testing is complete.
“We’d like to thank him for his patience and apologise for any distress caused.”
Speaking previously about the situation, ward councillor David Field (Lab), said:
“It’s clear that Orbit hasn’t been fulfilling its duties in terms of providing decent, safe, hygienic homes that people have been paying their rent and service charges for.
“I’ve been in touch with Orbit and its directors to make them aware of the concerns. Sometimes we do get a response saying things will be looked into, but quite often, unless you really put pressure on, we’re just not seeing the communications that residents need and deserve here.
“Our housing associations really need to step up and treat residents with respect.”