MINISTER NAMES AND SHAMES LANDLORDS

 

 Gove`s `extreme concern`

for tenants

 Housing secretary Michael Gove keeps up the pressure…He has now written to 14 social landlords over severe maladministration findings and a  breach of regulations.

In the letters to chief executives, Mr Gove criticised their failings and said he will be “taking a personal interest” in how the landlords, including seven councils and seven housing associations, continue to deliver their responsibilities to residents.

Failures like these have been ignored for far too long. Carlisle Tenants` and Residents Federation which publishes this blog has been campaigning against similar failures by Liverpool based Riverside Housing Associaiton  for about a  quarter of a century.

But the grossly inefficient, bossy and undemocratic Riverside carried on regartdless because that massive organisation is a law  only to itself.  Since Mr Gove`s appointment, things have changed  considerably down by the Riverside.

The seven housing associations, all of which were written to for previous findings of severe maladministration, include Sovereign, Hyde, Metropolitan Thames Valley. PA Housing, Peabody for findings against Catalyst and Notting Hill Genesis and Inquilab 

Ealing,Westminster,Tandridge, Nottingham, Milton Keynes and Lambeth councils all received a letter highlighting details of severe maladministration findings by the Housing Ombudsman. While Camden was pulled up for breaching the English regulator’s Home Standard.

As part of sweeping social housing regulation reforms, Mr Gove has vowed to name and shame landlords that fail to meet standards.

He has been writing to landlords and publishing letters since May  last year. 

Failures highlighted in the newly published letters include significant delays in complaint responses, vulnerable residents living in disrepair for months, a new born baby living in damp and mould, and a disabled tenant’s property needing 120 repairs.

Several landlords had previously already received letters, including Lambeth Council, whose most recent severe maladministration finding involved a family living in damp and mould for six years.

 

  It was also Mr Gove’s second letter to Ian McDermott (pictured), chief executive of Peabody, for a double maladministration finding for Catalyst after a disabled resident and her child were left in a mouldy home for 19 months. The housing secretary had previously written to Mr McDermott when he was the boss of Catalyst.  

In the case of PA Housing, Mr Gove wrote that he was “extremely disappointed” to be writing to the landlord again, describing two further findings of severe maladministration as “extremely concerning”. 

“In the second case, you took a staggering 585 working days to respond to a stage two complaint a resident made concerning a faulty roof,” he wrote. 

“You failed to acknowledge or offer an apology for your failures and, again, did not consider the impact your failures had on the resident. This is simply not acceptable.”

 Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents`Federation. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 522277