New powers must be given to social housing tenants to avoid possibility of another Grenfell.

[HelenaDove]

The call comes from the Social Housing Commision.

HelenaDove Sat 05-Jan-19 23:46:43

www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/05/tenants-rights-massive-overhaul-social-housing-commission-grenfell?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Facebook&fbclid=IwAR00Fi91Z6Z6_qVS-brX-SnwZRl07H8_jIwODn0_riq_X8e1Uw04oZpy50s
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HelenaDove Sat 05-Jan-19 23:51:33

Sweeping new powers must be given to social tenants as part of an overhaul needed to ensure a Grenfell-style disaster never happens again, a powerful cross-party commission will warn this week.

It found that social tenants are being failed by a system that leaves them waiting an average of eight months before their complaints are investigated, even when their safety could be at risk.

The calls for a once-in-a-generation rethink of tenants’ rights come from the Social Housing Commission, a year-long investigation brought together by the charity Shelter following the Grenfell Tower fire in which 72 people died. Its commissioners include the former Labour leader Ed Miliband, the Conservative former cabinet minister Sayeeda Warsi and the campaigner Doreen Lawrence, whose son Stephen was murdered in a racist attack in 1993. Lawrence said few people in positions of power “understand what this experience [being a social tenant] is like”.

“I doubt they’ve ever had to live in poor housing or know what it is like to feel invisible, like no one cares,” she said. “The case for investing in social housing is overwhelming. We cannot solve the housing crisis without it, but the system must be made more responsive to tenants at the same time.”

The commission is demanding a regulator with similar muscle to the body set up in the aftermath of the financial crisis to fix a system that has left social tenants feeling ignored or branded as troublemakers for raising serious concerns. The panel is also calling for a “significant expansion” of new social housing as well as comprehensive changes to the way the sector is run. The commission has spent a year researching the housing emergency, with 31,000 people responding to its consultation exercise.

One of the main findings is how the current regulatory system is failing social renters. In 2017-18 the average time taken for a decision by the housing ombudsman was eight months. Deep frustrations were expressed to the commission by both private renters and those in social-rented accommodation. The commission’s full report is published on Tuesday.

The commissioners – who also include the former Treasury minister Jim O’Neill, Ed Daffarn of Grenfell United, which represents survivors, and Gavin Kelly of the Resolution Trust thinktank – want a new regulator for landlords based on the Care Quality Commission or the Financial Conduct Authority, which was set up after the crisis of 2008 to protect consumers.

Research for the commission by the Britain Thinks agency found that 31% of social renters feel their landlord does not think about their interests when making decisions. In London 38% of social renters feel their landlord does not consider their interests. Nationally only a fifth (19%) of social renters felt able to influence the decisions made by their landlord about their home.
'It's a room of lawyers': what have we learnt from the Grenfell Tower inquiry?
Read more

The commission also proposes a new national tenants’ organisation to give social housing residents a voice at a regional and national level and the scrapping of rules that slow down tenants from complaining to a regulator.

There has been growing clamour for an overhaul of renters’ rights after the Grenfell disaster in 2017. The next phase of the official inquiry into the fire is not expected to go ahead until the end of the year.

Daffarn said: “Social housing is not like choosing a doctor – you can’t just up sticks and move if your housing association gets a low rating. Much more is needed to put power in residents’ hands. We need a new regulation system that will be proactive and fight for residents, with real repercussions for housing associations or councils that fail in their duty.”

www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/housing-associations-should-be-subject-to-foia-says-information-commissioner-60038

www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/kensington-mp-launches-attack-on-housing-associations-in-report-on-local-housing-60047

www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=4926

SMASHING BALCONY GLASS JUST MISSED CHILDREN AS SALFORD HOUSING COMPANY DENIED REPORTS OF WINDOWS FALLING OUT OF BLOCK

Star date: 6th February 2019

SEMANTICS KEEP SALFORD RESIDENTS IN DARK OVER COUNCIL BLOCKS SAFETY – AS RESIDENTS GET TENANCY WARNINGS

At Salford City Council meetings and in a letter to Salford and Eccles MP Rebecca Long-Bailey, Pendleton Together has batted away concerns by residents that windows had fallen out at Holm Court, even confirming that "there had not been any reports of windows having fallen onto the ground".

When the Salford Star confronted Deputy Mayor, John Merry, with proof of glass falling from height at Holm Court, narrowly missing children, he confirmed that it was a glass 'Juliet' balcony that had fallen and not a 'window' as such. Meanwhile, the mother of the children got no apology, just a tenancy warning

Holm Court Pendleton Salford Holm Court Pendleton Salford
click image to enlarge

'While Pendleton Together and Salford Council play semantics, Melissa herself and her children are still stuck in a block, two thirds covered in dangerous cladding, with no way to get out if a fire breaks out near her front door...'

It was on August 2nd last year when social workers and an independent reviewing officer were in a ground floor flat at Holm Court in Pendleton having a meeting with a tenant, Melissa, about her children, one of whom is disabled...

"The patio door was open because it was so warm in here and there's no windows" she recalls "My little girl was playing and my son was in his wheelchair and all of a sudden we heard a pop and all this glass came smashing in...it came flying across to the kitchen door; there was loads of it."

The glass had fallen from one of the flats above, and Pendleton Together, the company managing Holm Court - one of nine dangerously cladded blocks owned by Salford City Council – knew there was a problem because tenants had been warned not to go outside of their patio doors.

Initially, Melissa says, she had been told it was because of the windows 'as they keep popping', but adds that the housing company subsequently told her it was issues with the cladding. Yet, around most of the low-to-mid rise blocks on the estate, there are metal cages underneath all of the balcony windows, but not under all of the cladding.

A fragment of the shattered glass had to be removed from Melissa's child's foot, as the social workers went outside to see where the object had come from. Melissa got no apology from Pendleton Together, just an anti-social behaviour letter the next day for venturing outside, even though it was the social workers who went onto the grass.

"It was dangerous" she says "Social services put complaints in to say how dangerous it was."

Tenants soon began asking questions about window safety to Salford City Council, to Pendleton Together, and via the Salford Star* and Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey.

Yet in the minutes of the Council's Growth and Prosperity Scrutiny Panel on 22nd October, repeated to the MP in a recent letter, "Pendleton Together confirmed that there had not been any reports of windows having fallen to the ground. All balconies were fitted with toughened safety glass and balcony door glazing was laminated on the inside..."

The suspended – yes, suspended for 'breaches of the constitution'– elected chairman of the nearby Malus Court TARA (tenants and residents association), Graeme Langton, is furious...

"I brought this up at Council meetings and with the housing company and through the MP and they have denied knowledge that it happened" he says "Now we have the proof, I have been vindicated."

What could be regarded as semantics to avoid the issue do not only pertain to this case. Shortly after the Grenfell Tower tragedy, Pendleton Together commissioned Trident consultants to report on safety issues in the blocks.

Both the City Mayor, Paul Dennett, and Deputy Mayor, John Merry, have said that tenants should be able to read the conclusions. Yet nothing has been shown, as Pendleton Together continue to resist making it public, arguing that it is not a 'report'...

In a statement to the Salford Star only last week, the company insisted "There is no Trident Report, Dossier or formal collation of these documents or recommendations", refusing access yet again.

While Pendleton Together and Salford Council play semantics, Melissa herself and her children are still stuck in a block, two thirds covered in dangerous cladding, with no way to get out if a fire breaks out near her front door – as the patio door cannot be opened and her kitchen window only opens slightly.

This is just one example amongst lots of safety issues within the blocks. Pendleton Together is currently undertaking a programme of "required fire safety work", which further beggars the question whether tenants are living in safe housing, while the cladding replacement tender has not even gone out to potential contractors yet.

The whole Pendleton Together management is a complete mess, with elected resident representatives being suspended, two blocks having no representation at all (Spruce and Whitebeam), and the word games being played to seemingly avoid safety issues.

The Salford Star asked Pendleton Together to comment but the company has not responded. This afternoon, Deputy Mayor, John Merry, told the Salford Star...

"I've already agreed to meet with Mr Langton to discuss these issues with him" he said "But the only record I've got is of a balcony, not a window, and that this was partly caused by vandalism..."

See previous related Salford Star articles...

• Cladding and Window Safety Scares At Pendleton Blocks - click here

• Just £20 Compensation Paid To Freezing Tenants in Pendleton Stripped Cladding Block - click here

• Salford Council, Pendleton Together and Tory Government Win Grenfell Tower Memorial Award - click here

www.24housing.co.uk/news/scottish-housing-associations-to-come-under-foi/

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/18/london-social-housing-block-residents-warn-of-death-trap-conditions

"London social housing block residents warn of ‘death trap’ conditions

Water-soaked electrics, severe damp and lift breakdowns in flats managed by A2Dominion

Residents of a six-year-old block of flats in south-west London are warning that they are living in a “death trap” and fear a catastrophe similar to the Grenfell Tower fire.

The block’s managers have promised to address urgent problems after photographs of water-soaked electrics, black mould and severe damp were posted on Twitter. Residents have also reported frequent and prolonged lift breakdowns, which have created particular difficulties for a number of tenants who use wheelchairs.

Clyde House is a block of social housing, with 62 flats over eight floors, built as part of a private housing development in Wandsworth, close to the River Thames. Some of the properties are reserved for people with special needs.

Residents claim Clyde House was constructed with shoddy materials, and that the surrounding blocks were better built and have been properly maintained. “The other blocks look identical to ours, but we’re treated like second-class citizens,” said Shevonne Will, who posted pictures on Twitter last week

shevonne will @ShevonneLDN
· Feb 16, 2019

I didn’t want to do this but I’m currently living in a death trap. I’m afraid that we will be the next Grenfell.

I’m a resident at Clyde house which is a social housing block under @A2DominionGroup.

We need them to take this seriously before the building goes up in flames!

shevonne will @ShevonneLDN

Due to leaks that began 3-4 years ago we are constantly hearing electrical wires crackling in the walls, the building is flooding & there is mould growing everywhere.

There are BUCKETS OF WATER in electrical cupboards. It is a disaster waiting to happen

Justine Greening, the Conservative MP for the area, who raised the issue in parliament last week, said the problems facing residents were “totally unacceptable”.
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At an angry and at times chaotic meeting at Clyde House on Monday, many residents spoke of flooding from cracked pipes, light fittings filled with water, vermin, a pervasive smell of sewage, a lack of hot water, exposed and sparking electrical wires – and frustration that their complaints had been ignored

Talha Khepi, an independent fire risk assessor who volunteered to inspect the block after seeing social media posts, said he rated the building at moderate to high risk. He was particularly concerned about unenclosed electrical wires and their exposure to water, he said.

David Fenton, 57, who lives on the sixth floor, said the building often shook and cracks had appeared. “Piping on the top floor has cracked and water has seeped into the electrics and down all the walls. It’s infested with vermin. It’s dangerous and uninhabitable.”

A single mother of an 11-year-old disabled child said she had been signed off work with back problems after being forced to drag her daughter up the stairs in her wheelchair to their eighth-floor flat.

Sophie, who did not want to give her full name, told A2Dominion representatives at the meeting: “My back hurts, my head hurts, I wake up at night worrying about whether the lifts will work. Why haven’t you listened?”

Other residents described being made to feel like “riff-raff” compared with their owner-occupier neighbours. Flats in neighbouring blocks have been on the market for up to £800,000.

Greening, who was at Monday’s meeting, said residents’ lives had been made “a misery”.

She added: “It’s taken chasing phone calls, on site meetings and raising it in parliament to get any sort of response. And even then promises on sorting out problems have been broken. It’s time for an overhaul of the system to better hold these organisations to account.”

David Lingeman, A2Dominion’s director of property services, told the meeting: “We recognise that things are not right and we’re going to put them right. We haven’t performed well, and you have my personal apology.”

Resolving the faults with the building would take four months, he said

According to its website, A2Dominion is a “residential property group with a social purpose”. It has created 37,000 homes, with another 7,800 in development, and has a £300m-plus turnover.

In a statement, Andrew Evans, its executive director of operations, said: “We are aware of the ongoing issues at Clyde House. We apologise for the disruption it is causing our residents. Their safety and wellbeing is of the utmost importance to us and we are doing everything we can to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.”

He said temporary heaters had been provided and residents were being offered temporary alternative accommodation. “We regret that the issues have not been resolved sooner,” Evans said."

www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/exclusive-fired-up-residents-vent-their-anger-after-months-of-no-heating-and-hot-water/

www.politicshome.com/news/uk/communities/housing/house/house-magazine/102025/emma-dent-coad-%E2%80%9Cim-glad-be-troublemaker-if

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/housing-association-linked-grenfell-tower-16165571

Housing association linked to Grenfell Tower left tenant without light for WEEKS

EXCLUSIVE: London-based Notting Hill Genesis didn't repair one tenant's rotten window for six months and still collected rent from one tenant for five years after he died

A housing association that was slammed for failing to fix a fire door in Grenfell Tower has been accused by tenants of making their lives a misery.

Notting Hill Genesis is riddled with ­incompetence, they say.

One 86-year-old resident was left without lights for eight weeks. Another waited six months for a boarded-up window to be replaced.

The giant London-based group even collected rent totalling £41,504 from one man for five years after he died.

They claimed the bank refused to cancel the standing order without a death certificate which they were ­“unable to obtain”

In another instance NHG collected £26,416 after a tenant had moved out.

It has received almost £7million in overpayments yet to be paid back.

Local MP Emma Dent Coad said: “Overpayments have been noted and brought to their attention and they have failed to repay and apologise. I find that shocking. They have not stepped up.”

The Labour MP warned it was only a matter of time before someone died because of delays in vital repair work.

She claimed NHG warned one tenant not to contact MPs if they wanted repairs done.

Mrs Dent Coad said: “They have a casual attitude to the way they are destroying people’s lives. There is a culture of disdain and bullying from many housing associations at the moment but particularly from Notting Hill Genesis.

“There is a culture of seeing tenants as the little people. They would never see them as serving the tenants who pay their wages.

NHG was criticised at the public inquiry into the 2017 Grenfell fire that killed 72 people for failing to fix a fire door. Police tests found that the 100 fire doors resisted flames for 15 minutes, half the time required by building regulations.

The Sunday People spoke to tenants who ­accused NHG, a registered charity, of being slow to carry out repairs.

In the shadow of Grenfell, Patricia Bishop, 50, a school caterer, spent almost eight weeks over Christmas with no mains lights after a leak in an upstairs flat shorted the electrics.

She said the leak was not fixed for two years.

Ms Bishop, who is the sole carer for her father Julius, 86, said: “My father couldn’t see to wash himself or clean himself after he’d been in the toilet.”

She added: “When our upstairs neighbour has a bath, her used water runs into my bathroom. One time I was in the bath and had to jump out because all this dirty water ran down on top of me.

“I now have a system with the lady above us, where she tells me when she is having a bath and I keep out of my bathroom.”

Molly Ayton, 65, an NHG ­tenant in Maida Vale, said that when her window became rotten it was boarded up for six months without a replacement

On another occasion, fist-sized lumps or mortar fell down from a flat above on to her path.

She said: “No Notting Hill Genesis properties around here have had cyclical repairs for 24 years. They look shabby and dirty from the outside.”

NHG, which looks after 64,000 homes, apologised for delayed ­repairs and said the leak affecting Ms Bishop had been fixed.

It has denied refusing to fix properties of tenants who complained to MPs.

A spokesman said: “We respect completely their right to seek help from an MP or councillor.”

Last year it emerged NHG overcharged ­residents at flats in Maida Vale by more than £85,000 for cleaning bills.

They have repaid the cash after admitting they charged for five days a week cleaning when there had only been one clean per week.

NHG, which received £800million of public money in the last ten years, said housing ­benefit overpayments were always paid back to ­councils.

The group states that its mission is to “house London’s working poor, providing them with a home in which to build themselves and their families a secure future”