Council Housing Residents Blocked From Accessing Communal Play Area And Gardens

A group of residents living on an estate have expressed outrage at being padlocked out from a communal garden and playground while private owners continue to have access. The Pembury Estate in Hackney, London used to be council-controlled housing, but management was handed over to the Peabody housing association 20 years ago. As part of the deal, Peabody was given permission to build a new block of privately rented flats with a fenced off garden and playground attached to the back. There is an external gate making it accessible to other residents of the estate, but Peabody has kept the gate padlocked for months. Read more on the Left Foot Forward website.

https://leftfootforward.org/2019/08/council-housing-residents-blocked-from-accessing-communal-play-area-and-gardens/

More Private High-Rises With Flammable Cladding Than Expected

The number of people living in privately owned high-rise flats with combustible cladding similar to that used on Grenfell Tower is much higher than previously believed. Ministers are planning to launch a taskforce to help councils identify the type of cladding in use on private tower blocks higher than 18 metres (60ft) amid growing concern that, more than a year since the Grenfell Tower disaster, officials still do not know. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) ordered councils to identify all private high-rise residential buildings with aluminium composite cladding by the end of May and the results are set to be announced. Sources familiar with the work said it is expected to show a significant increase on the current number of 138. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/28/private-high-rise-towers-flammable-cladding-grenfell

Town Hall Rubber Stamps Housing Transfer

The transfer of 8,500 homes from the council to private ownership has been formally approved. Salford council rubber stamped the transfer of town hall-owned properties to Salix Homes at its full council meeting. This came after a tenant ballot in November when tenants voted in favour of the stock transfer. The transfer is expected to take place at the end of March and Salix Homes, which already manages the homes on behalf of the council. Salix says it will invest millions into the homes to bring them up to a decent standard by 2020 and maintain them. Read more on the Manchester Evening News website.