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What caused the flooding?
On the evening of Wednesday 12 November a pipe which supplies water to water tanks on the roof of the building failed and came apart at the joint. That meant that water that should have been supplying tanks was pouring into the building. That was the cause of the flood.
For background, flats in Brisbane house have two water supplies: drinking water, supplied directly from the mains to kitchens, and water from the cold water tanks that go to other taps and cisterns.
The water tanks are inspected by external experts every year. The most recent inspection took place at the end of July this year and no issues were observed or reported.
Initial response
The incident was reported and the fire service attended to manage the emergency incident and council officers attended to help and support residents and ensure that everyone had somewhere safe to stay.
The effect of the flooding
Flooding affected communal areas, lifts and lift shafts and mainly affected flats on the higher levels.
The wider effect of the flooding on the block has been in the lifts and the electrical systems. Both had to be switched off entirely for safety reasons. They have had to dry out, and extensive testing of both will need to take place before they can be safely reinstated.
That will include testing the electrical systems in every flat. In order to do this we will need to access every flat to carry out safety tests.
Until both the electrics and the lifts have been passed as safe and reinstated it is not safe for residents to move back into the block.
What is happening now?
The council is working with its insurers and contractors to assess the extent of the damage and the works required in the building as a whole and each individual flat.
The one objective in all the work taking place is to make sure that residents can return home, and every effort will be made to make sure that can happen as soon as possible. This may be at different times for different residents, depending on the amount of damage caused. Below we have set out the significant amount of work that has already been done, and what still needs to happen, in order for residents to move back in.
Each household has been assigned a named officer as a consistent point of contact for residents. These officers will work with households throughout the process and will be on hand to ensure they have all the information they need and help them access any support.
Temporary accommodation
Until work is complete to make the block safe for residents to move back into we will make sure that they have a safe and secure place to live.
Some have been staying in hotels for the last couple of weeks. We are in the process of finding them safe and secure temporary accommodation where they will have access to more home facilities, such as kitchens.
The council has been able to secure a good number of temporary homes and we are doing the work to make sure these homes are suitable and ready for them to move into. As soon as residents are offered a temporary home they can move in, usually that day.
In the meantime we will continue extending hotel bookings to make sure rooms are secured. They are usually extended on a weekly basis. The date of each extension is no indication of the intended length of their stay. As soon as a place in temporary accommodation is available they will be able to move in.
We know that some residents have made their own arrangements to stay with family or friends. If their circumstances change and they need temporary accommodation we will make those arrangements for them.
Rent
We understand that many residents have questions about rent and we are working to answer them, but it is far more complicated than people might assume.
For some residents their benefits are linked to their rent, and so stopping charging them rent could have unintended negative impact on their other benefits which can take months to resolve.
The council is providing most residents with alternative accommodation as well as vouchers for extra expenditure, so most of them shouldn’t be out of pocket.
We will get an answer on rent as soon as we’ve worked through the detail, as everyone’s circumstances are different.
No one will be charged additional rent for hotels or temporary accommodation.
Tilbury Library and Hub
An information centre is open for Brisbane House resident in Tilbury Library and Hub during library opening hours where residents can meet and speak with our officers to get information or raise concerns.
The library also runs a number of regular events that we have shared information about with affected residents. We know particularly for those staying in hotels, it will be important to have other places and activities to take children to, or visit to help avoid feeling isolated.
Tilbury Family Hub
Help is available to families though the council network of Family Hubs. The Tilbury Family Hub, offers parents a place to rest with a hot drink and a snack during the school day if they have to travel further than usual to drop children off at school.
The Tilbury Family Hub also has an essentials bank which is available for parents to access clothes, toys and toiletries. The Family Hub in Tilbury works very closely with the local Church and the Foodbank, so if needed it can be provided with Foodbank vouchers, or nappies and other essentials.
We have worked with local schools to make sure that all parents are aware of the help on offer and have the contact details for family hubs and other support.
The next steps will be to find temporary accommodation for all residents staying in hotels.
While this is going on, work is progressing well in the block and the council will be asking residents for access to their flats to carry out vital electrical safety checks.
The council is also working with contractors to get lifts restored. Lifts for this block have an important role in fire safety as they provide access for fire crews to get equipment to upper floors.
We have detailed below, all the work that needs to take place before residents can move back in, much of which has already been completed or is underway.
Phase 1 – Safety Management (COMPLETE)
Phase 2 – Investigation & Testing (PART COMPLETE)
Phase 3 – Full Compliance
Phase 4 – Reinstatement & Returning Home
13 November 2025
Thurrock Council has confirmed today (13 November) that it continues to support residents of Brisbane House while a burst water pipe’s after-effects are dealt with. The council is assessing the damage following the flood late yesterday led to flooding throughout the block, meaning that residents are now either in temporary accommodation provided by the council or staying with friends or family.
Council teams have been working hard on-site from last night, right through today, making contact with residents to make sure they are safe, secure and have somewhere to stay while urgent works are done to fix the problem. Residents who have been housed in temporary accommodation have had their stay confirmed until early next week.
The leak means that residents are not able to access their homes, although the council is arranging to escort residents who need to collect urgent items such as medication.
The council has set up a dedicated reception and information centre at Tilbury Library and Community Hub, which will remain open to assist residents from 3pm until 6.45pm today and throughout the day tomorrow (Friday 14 November) from 10am until 4.45pm. This information hub will be staffed throughout and provides a single point of accurate information, advice and support for residents. As part of its support to Brisbane House residents, the council has reached out to organisations such as local housing associations, and the RSPCA for residents who have pets, and security has been put in place to keep the location secure.
Cllr. Mark Hurrell, Cabinet Member for Social Housing comments: “On behalf of the council, I want to apologise to residents of Brisbane House for the significant disruption they are facing while the council deals with this incident. Time is needed to assess the extent of any damage and to enable us to confirm when the building will be safe for them to return to.
“We’re doing our best to make sure we have proactively contacted all residents – we have door-knocked on all flats, made calls and sent text messages to make sure that everyone is safe – and we can confirm that is the case.
“Our priority now is to support residents who have been displaced temporarily by what I appreciate must have been a shocking and scary experience. We have worked to get information and advice to those who need it in a way which responds to their needs. We’ll continue to build on that as we grip the situation further and move to confirming as to when residents can expect to be able to access their homes again. If any residents are especially concerned about the future standard of their home, I encourage early engagement with our Housing team. We will provide further updates as soon as we can.
“In the meantime, I want to thank everyone involved in managing this urgent situation – including residents who have been patient and co-operative, our officer team who have worked overnight to keep people safe and our local partners and Tilbury Library and Community Hub for providing the space to set up our resident information centre.”
12 November 2025
Tonight (Wednesday 12 November) Thurrock Council has been supporting residents who have had to temporarily leave Brisbane House in Tilbury after a burst pipe caused flooding which affected the electricity supply in the block. To keep everyone safe, and on advice from the utility company, we have shut off the power to the building, asked residents to leave the premises, and set up a rest centre for those who are unable to stay with family or friends. Vulnerable residents are being supported, and emergency accommodation will be provided for those who need it.
The water pumps for the other two neighbouring blocks – Freemantle House and Tasmania House – are also located in Brisbane House. Because the power has been shut off in that block, the water in those blocks is likely to run out overnight, although their electricity is unaffected. Council officers will be delivering bottled water to these residents and asking them to limit their water use. Emergency repairs will be carried out first thing in the morning.
We are hugely grateful to residents for their patience and cooperation, and to our colleagues in the emergency services, and the British Red Cross, for supporting local residents through this incident tonight.
