BEDROOM TAX "NO EXCUSE FOR EMPTY HOUSES"

ACTIVISTS AND FORMER DIRECTOR IN RIVERSIDE PROTESTS

The housing crisis has never been far from the top of the agenda at  the party conferences. In Carlisle too there has been a lot of discussion,a lot of it highly critical.

Much of this discussion has centred on the giant Liverpool organisation, Riverside Housing Association which owns the bulk of the city`s former council houses.

Some of the city`s young activists-  the Axe the Bedroom Tax group- had a demonstration outside Riverside`s office in Botchergate.

And  Malcolm Craik,  a former director on the board of Riverside`s Carlisle operation, is calling for an investigation into why Riverside has thirty empty properties when there is so much homelessness in the city.

Mr Craik says that Riverside cannot blame the bedroom tax for the empty houses-  it has consistently failed to  anticipate  Carlisle`s housing demand, says  a letter to the Editor of the Cumberland News reprinted below.

The bedroom tax protesters got a lot of  newspaper publicity with their demonstration. Afterwards,Riverside bosses invited the protesters into the office for a chat. This Riverside welcome  was a bit over-the-top for the banner-waving activists.

It  was embarrassing for them. But despite this and despite  the plans to abolish the bedroom tax- at the Lib Dem and Labour party conferences- the Carlisle protesters failed to get a promise they wanted, a promise from Riverside not to  carry out any bedroom tax evictions.

More criticism of Riverside came at a special meeting of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation  called to discuss the continuing  controversial issues at Dixon`s Court, Shaddongate, where Riverside has 28 tenants and leaseholders.

These issues were previously discussed  a few weeks ago on this blog. Riverside tenants say that Riverside is failing in its duty of care and is failing to explain its service charges.

The issues go back for about three months and have still not been resolved. Tenants are now making new allegations about their health and safety.

The Federation continues to protest and support the Dixon`s Court tenants and will continue to until the issues are resolved.

HERE IS MALCOLM CRAIK`S LETTER:

Riverside Carlisle Housing Association says that it cannot let thirty of its three bedroomed houses in Carlisle.  ‘Bedroom tax' blamed for three-bed homes standing empty in Carlisle, News & Star, 23 September 2013. 

This should come as no surprise to the association as it has consistently failed to anticipate housing demand in the city; not only that but in recent years it has deliberately increased its weekly rents by more than inflation so that now it makes sound economic sense for many working families to purchase a home on the open market.

The ‘bedroom tax’ cannot be blamed for Riverside’s current lettings difficulties. Parliament enacted the Welfare Reform Act on 8 March 2012 and landlords had a year to tailor their business models to take into account the likely effects of the measures.

Of all the landlords in Carlisle only Riverside appears to be having difficulty letting its properties. Customer resistance to Riverside tenancies suggests that the association’s business model is not meeting local affordable housing need.

On 26 February 2013 Riverside’s divisional director told the News & Star that the association’s plans were driven by housing policy – not welfare policy.

Therefore he added there were no plans for one-bedroomed flats. Contemporaneously Riverside announced that it was demolishing one-bedroomed properties in the city.

I find myself coming to the conclusion that Riverside has to a great extent been hoist by its own petard having failed, for whatever reason, to understand its own market.

Of course the City Council with its homelessness remit should have ensured that Riverside produced a sensible mix of properties to help reduce homelessness in Carlisle.

The City already has tenancy nomination rights with Riverside, negotiated at the time of the Stock Transfer, and has four members siting on the Riverside board of governance.

I expect that Jessica Riddle, the city councillor responsible for housing, will investigate why it is that Riverside has thirty empty properties at a time when homeless in our fair city remains so high.

Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation. Information about the Federation is on the first post of this blog. dated March 25.

UNEARTHING HISTORY FROM FORGOTTEN SCRAP BOOKS

More community
memories for Pat`s
garden village

Several family scrap books have been unearthed in forgotten drawers at home, and many hand-written histories re-discovered since Pat Hitchon set off  to write the story of the village of Botcherby, Carlisle.      

These journeys into the past have also yielded dozens of photos, notes, and archives. The number of people who have come forward with these half-forgotten items is now  well over 50.

Next week,  Pat will   be  making another monthly report on her progress  to members of the Botcherby Forever  community group who have helped her for almost a year with their memories.

The meeting will be held in a new venue, a venue which is itself very much part of the Botcherby story, St Andrew`s Church(pictured above) in Wood Street. The street is Georgian and is also listed.

The  church  itself  is not so old,  dating from 1880. Photos of  vacant ground being blessed before the church was built are among the Botcherby  historic items handed to Pat recently.

Today, St Andrews is facing  problems, similar to all churches, caused by falling attendances.

The Rev Steve Donald who has charge of the church, talked about these problems at the last meeting of Botcherby Forever.

He said it is now  planned to alter the inside of the church by removing the organ and using that space as a community meeting place.

Possibly, Botcherby Forever will use that space in future.  The group is badly in need of a permanent venue for its  meetings. In  not much more than a year, the group has been forced to meet in four different venues.

Pat`s book is to have the title”Botcherby—a Garden Village” and is due to be published next year. The Botcherby Forever community group is part of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation.

Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents `Federation. Information about the Federation is contained in the first entry of this blog, dated March 25 2013.

FREEDOM...TO DO MUCH AS RIVERSIDE SEES FIT

Freedom of Information is serving Carlisle badly says a community group, because it does not  include housing associations.

These organisations do whatever they  see fit because they don`t have to answer questions about their operations in a democratic way as they would if they were covered  by the Freedom of Information Act.

Riverside Housing Association is the latest association to fail  to answer questions when it demolished 16 flats in Borland Avenue, Botcherby. Carlisle, says a Letter  to the Editor today from Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation. The letter is to the News and Star, Carlisle.

Here it is:

A dark shadow remains over Carlisle despite the very welcome spotlight shone by your newspaper on the Freedom of Information Act.
T
he News and Star  did a great public service with its spotlight. But sadly, many people will conclude that the Freedom of Information Act serves Carlisle  badly.

Badly, because  housing associations- the biggest landlords in Carlisle- are unlike other public bodies : they don`t  do Freedom of Information,  the Act does not include housing associations.

Nationally, some of these housing associations  are also big

and powerful .One of the biggest in the country, Riverside
owns 50,000 homes nationwide. About ten per cent of these
are in Carlisle, and this Carlisle holding gives Riverside a near-monopoly of the city`s social housing.

It also gives Riverside very similar powers  to the city council in running

the  housing estates.

On these estates, the council  has a good record in dealing with information under the Act. But Riverside is under no such legal obligation. Nor is Riverside very ready to explain what it is  up to on these estates.

Riverside has a freedom in Carlisle denied to the council-  freedom to act much as it sees fit.

A couple of weeks ago in Botcherby,  Riverside demolished 16 one-bedroom maisonette flats in Borland Avenue. Before the demolition, there were protests  from a local councillor, from Botcherby people,  and from a protesting petition.

Riverside said it had consulted these people. But  this consultation never included an explanation of why the demolition had to go ahead despite the protests and despite the city shortage of one bedroom accommodation, made worse by the bedroom tax.

Riverside never explained because it didn`t have to explain.

A  Freedom of Information request would have forced an explanation

There have been several similar Riverside demolitions over the last few years in other parts of the city. Sheltered accommodatation  and old people`s bungalows have gone . And  like the Botcherby demolitions,, the reason why they have gone  has never been explained by Riverside.

Riverside`s unexplained demolitions have been challenged repeatedly, particularly by the tenants` and residents` organisation, Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation.

But such challenges are easily brushed  aside by an organisation that has the freedom to do exactly what it thinks fit.

One hundred years ago, Carlisle council also had the freedom to do what  it thought fit,.But, unlike Riverside, it did it in a democratic way which it was prepared to explain. What  the council thought fit  to do 100 years ago was to start building council houses..

Down those 100 years the council also  thought  fit to continue building until  9,000 homes  were created and Carlisle was doubled in size through a handful of newly-created council estates.

Ten years ago, all this ended with the takeover of the city council houses by the giant Liverpool organisation, Riverside.

Riverside`s unexplained demolitions and other unexplained measures- all of them, no doubt, decided  in a what-we-think-fit  way in Liverpool -are now changing for ever what the city council created  during a century of democratic government.

Freedom of Information would force Riverside to explain these unexplained demolitions and tell us what is going on.

Carlisle people who built these estates through their rates and taxes have right to know what is going on.

Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation. Information abourt the Fededration is  contained in the first post of this blog, dated March 25 2013