Industry news
Private block with unsafe cladding has safety watch removed
leaving residents concerned about their future wellbeing. The Palm and Malt House development in
A
Lambeth consists of three blocks, but only one of them is over 18 metres high. The blocks had a waking watch put in place after the combination of cladding used on the development failed Government fire safety tests carried out in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire. Bellway, who built the blocks, hired fire
private residential tower block in south London with cladding that has failed fire safety tests had its waking watch removed
consultants who advised them that the buildings are safe without the need for a waking watch. They also advised residents that the London Fire Brigade had removed their objection of the waking watch’s removal. Bellway has said it will cover the £150,000 cost of the waking watch. DJC Property Management has told residents
they will now seek to clarify whether the block’s ACM cladding needs to be replaced but this is likely to take some time while official guidance is developed. But residents have been left wondering what fire safety measures are now in place to protect them from a Grenfell style fire.
Court jails man who locked 35 tenants out of their home
A head tenant who changed the locks on a property in north-west London that was illegally sublet to 35 men has been jailed for 16 weeks. Ilie Florin Dragusin bolted the men out of
a converted three-bedroom semi-detached house after the property was raided by Brent Council's enforcement team in September last year. Mr Dragusin was one of three head tenants
Anchor and Hanover in merger talks
Two large landlords who provide care services and homes to the elderly are in merger talks over forming a 53,000-home organisation and the biggest specialist housing association in the country. If the merger goes ahead, the new Anchor
Hanover Group will have a combined turnover of almost £500m a year. Anchor had a turnover of £374m in 2016/17, producing a surplus of £10.6m, while Hanover’s turnover was £120.9m with a surplus of £12.2m. They claim the merger will allow them to build more new homes as well as developing enhanced services. In a joint statement, Jane Ashcroft, chief
executive of Anchor and Dame Clare Tickell, chief executive of Hanover, said: “People can look forward to living longer than ever before. More
specialist housing and care will be needed going forwards, with new types of services. At Hanover and Anchor, we understand these changing needs. “We have ambitious plans and want to provide
more services, driven by the needs and aspirations of the growing number of older people. A new, bigger organisation has the potential to provide the best value-for-money services for our customers now and in the future.” Ms Ashcroft is chief executive designate of the
new organisation, while Stuart Burgess, the current chair of Hanover, is expected to chair the new board. The organisations are now consulting on the move and they are expected to announce their next steps in the coming months.
at the property in Winchester Avenue, Kingsbury, where 35 tenants were found to be living in substandard conditions in an unlicensed HMO. Some men were forced to sleep in the garden with just a canopy to shelter them. He had previously been fined a total of £29,000 along with Gheorghe-Valentin Lingurar and Ana Maria Pricop, after officers visited the poorly maintained house. On that occasion council officers found eight men sleeping in one room, with mattresses lining the entire property including in the kitchen and back garden.
Cllr Eleanor Southwood, Cabinet Member for Housing and Welfare Reform, said: "This custodial sentence sends a strong message to anyone thinking that they can get away with illegally evicting their tenants.”
Council raid finds 16 living in a two-bedroom flat
A dawn raid by enforcement officers from Brent
Council found sixteen people squeezed into a two bedroom flat above a shop in north west London, in conditions described as “Dickensian” by a local councillor. Council staff were supported by police
officers when they entered the property. They found mattresses, bunkbeds and sofa beds packed into the two bedrooms and living room space within the poorly ventilated flat. Fire escapes had been blocked while a smoke alarm was
found hanging off the ceiling. One occupant told enforcement officers
that he was paying £50 a week for a bed space. On this basis council staff estimated the landlord will have been receiving at least £3,200 a month. Cllr Eleanor Southwood, Brent Council cabinet
member for Housing and Welfare Reform, described conditions at the flat as “Dickensian”. The flat also contained three times the number of permitted tenants.
18 | HMM July 2018 |
www.housingmmonline.co.uk “The punishment is prison. We will help
people in the private rented sector who are suffering from the actions of rogue landlords, subletters and agents." Mr Dragusin, who was living with his
parents in Edgeware before being taken into custody on 19 June, ignored four sets of warnings by enforcement officers not to change the locks on the property. Willesden Magistrates Court heard how he showed no regard for the people he had locked out after removing their belongings from their home. The custodial sentence is the second jail
term that Brent Council has seen brought against a person for unlawful eviction since licensing came into force at the end of 2015.
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