GUARDIAN WRITER AND RAG BAG RIVERSIDE HOUSING

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Housing associations are under fire...the Government has declared war on them despite their success says Guardian writer Peter Hetherington in  a challenging article this week.. 

But are housing associations a success as Peter claims?

Many people believe they are far from successful, particularly people  in Carlisle, a city which Peter knows well.

It was in Carlisle where Peter spent his early life, where he started in journalism and where if he returned now, he  could learn a completely different story about one housing association.

It was in Carlisle that the city council  stacked up an enviable  record of house building lasting over 100 years. In the years between the wars Carlisle claimed to have built more council housing for its size than any other place in England..

The council took pride in the quality as well as the quantity of houses it built. Peter`s father worked for Carlisle City Council in an executive role so  the chances are that 

Peter also knows a thing  or two about  making council house building the success story it  once was.

Sadly, councils  no longer build social housing. This work is now done by housing associations,, many of which are rag bag organisations little interested  it seems in building more social housing and even less interested in the pride  and quality of the houses that Carlisle demonstrated  for  more than 100 years.

Today, in Carlisle there is  a classic example of those rag bag organisations. It is the Liverpool-based Riverside Housing Association which took over the city`s council houses 13 years ago. Riverside  in reality is a property development organisation more interested in making profits from housing. Riverside  owns 6,000 homes and is the city`s biggest landlord.

There are many other criticisms of Riverside. It  is  a bossy organisation, inefficient in  what it does,  and ineffective and  biased in its  complaints procedure by failing to give its tenants and leaseholders   proper democratic representation for complaints and decision making.

Is there any wonder that war  has been declared, first in a quiet way by the cowed  Riverside tenants and leaseholders and second  in a much more aggressive way by  our concerned Government?  

Peter knows all about the government`s war on housing associations. His Guardian article details  the war battle by battle. Peter  says this war is aimed at ending  all social housing.

But Peter needs also needs to know about the war being waged by Riverside tenants and leaseholders in his one-time home town, Carlisle.

Peter has echoes of  Cathy,  in the famous 1966 TV film about homes and homelessness, Cathy Come Home.

The message to him is :Peter Come Home.



Note: More information about Carlisle City Council`s excellent  housing record is available on line,. The link is

https://municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/interwar_carlisle/

 

CarlisleTenants` and Residents` Federation publishes this blog. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 522277 or 01228 532803.