PRESS STATEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DISTRESSED TENANTS:
M.P. SAYS EVICTION THREAT
IS “VERY ALARMING”
Mr Rory Stewart M.P. today said he was “ very alarmed”
at a threat of eviction to a distressed tenant who is struggling
with an unheated home and rocketing fuel bills after a big solar panel
scheme went wrong.
The threatened tenant also has complex health problems. Mr Stewart says
he plans urgent talks with the Carlisle boss of the giant Riverside Housing
Association which owns the property in Longtown near Carlisle.
Mr Stewart, M.P. for Penrith and the Border, says his
office has kept in touch with the threatened tenant- one of his
constituents- and he had previously been pressing Riverside through the
Carlisle boss, Mr Dean Butterworth, to help the tenant.
Mr Stewart says: My office speaks regularly with the tenant and I
am aware of his health condition. I find his threat of eviction very alarming
and will raise the matter with Mr Butterworth”.
Mr Stewart`s concerns are expressed in a letter to the Carlisle
campaigning community group, Carlisle Tenants` and Residents`Federation which
is leading the fight for justice on behalf of several distressed tenants.For
two years they have suffered from unheated homes and rocketing fuel bills, one
has a £3,500 bill.
Mr Stewart is also concerned that Riverside is not acting on a an
independent engineers` report that it commissioned. The report details the
tenants` problems and advises solutions. Mr Stewart says:”Yesterday
I received a copy of the report and now have had a chance to digest its
findings.
“I intend to write further to Mr Butterworth raising my concerns
and pressing for a timeframe when necessary improvements will be made.
”Rest assured that I will continue to represent Longtown tenants on this
issue at any opportunity I can”.
A Federation spokesman said:”Mr Stewart`s latest intervention is very
welcome. He is backing everything the distressed tenants have been saying for
two years, particularly about the independent report.
“Riverside commissioned this report but have never acted on it. It seems
they are in denial about its existence.
“We are also particularly concerned about the eviction threat and the
fact that this was issued to a tenant with serious medical problems.”
Issued by Carlisle Tenants` and Residents`Federation
February 27 2014
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