Hackney tenants unite in battle against ‘poor housing conditions’
Anger: the government’s housing policies have led many to take to the streets in protest.
Tenants in two recently merged housing associations have launched a campaign group to fight “deteriorating services” and raise awareness of the wider issues facing social housing.
Peabody Family Voice (PFV), formed last month and based in Hackney, is opposing plans for Peabody and Family Mosaic to amalgamate following their merger in July 2017.
Family Mosaic tenant Charles Smith told the Citizen: “Like many, I have suffered over decades from the appalling performance of the repairs service, which amounts to systematic neglect.
“But the problem has got worse as the housing association has got bigger and become more interested in property development than its social tenants.”
PFV has written to Peabody’s chief executive Brendan Sarsfield to say it has no faith that the amalgamation – when two organisations form a new, separate entity – is in tenants’ best interests.
The group says it members “have suffered bitter decades of mismanagement within the housing associations as they have grown exponentially”.
But Sarsfield said in response that the merger process has enabled Peabody and Family Mosaic to “make improvements to our services, protect low rents and build more much-needed homes”.
He said there has also been an increase in customer satisfaction, but admitted “there is still some more to do”.
In a statement, PFV said: “The amalgamation of these two housing associations is not in our best interests. Each is already too large, remote, and unaccountable to its tenants. As they have grown, services have deteriorated exponentially, and this must stop.”
The group added: “Our housing associations have become too large, staff are inaccessible and their morale is low.
“Remote call centres and extended chains of communication should be abandoned in favour of being able to talk directly to housing and neighbourhood officers and repair teams.”
A spokesperson for PFV said members are also “extremely concerned by the trend towards increasing commercialisation of housing associations, and the weakening of their commitment to social housing”.
They added: “We oppose the selling-off of existing properties deemed ‘uneconomic’, and the extension of the right to buy.
“And we insist that the housing associations support the traditional values of social housing and oppose the government’s attempts to destroy them.”
Peabody chief executive Brendan Sarsfield. Photograph: Peabody
Responding to PFV’s concerns, Sarsfield said: “We started the merger process to enable us to make improvements to our services, protect low rents and build more much-needed homes.
“This includes more investment in repairs and maintenance and engagement with residents. Services to tenants are our top priority and we are focused on improving these across the organisation.
Sarsfield, who was Family Mosaic’s chief executive before taking over the reins at Peabody after last year’s merger, added: “We are also committed to providing more localised services. From reading the letter we appear to have the same goals as these residents.
“We completed our merger in July 2017. During our first six months as one organisation we have already made improvements and increased customer satisfaction, but of course there is still some more to do.
“I am sorry to hear about some residents’ concerns. This is the first contact we have had with them and we are happy to meet them to discuss their issues.”
The Peabody Trust was founded in 1862 by George Peabody, an American-British philanthropist whose vision was to provide quality, affordable housing for Victorian London’s working poor.
Two years later, the organisation opened its first homes on Commercial Street in Spitalfields.
Peabody now houses around 70,000 people across the capital.
Here are examples of unfit management, over a period of 10 years at just one Family Mosaic flat, remember this is one flat. The reason for this neglect being of course to pay Brendan Sarsfield’s extortionate salary. As far as I know he can’t actually be sacked. Brendan Sarsfield has been overseeing this shameful performance and really he should do the decent thing resign and let someone else take over who has some talent for the job. Incidentally I am not a “customer” I am a Tenant.
12 months to repair a leaking drain sewage waste seeping into the basement.
7 consecutive no shows to repair a faulty boiler, action only effective after a direct intervention by tenant at head office.
Scaffolding left for 3 months to do roof repairs amounting to 3 days work, no inspection, no assessment, no specification.
Painters painting a house not having been paid for 3 months by unscrupulous private painting firm.
Tradesmen carpenter being forced to work 10 straight hours without a break (this is actually illegal and unsafe)
Roofer forced to work alone on exposed roof at height, unsafe working conditions.
Family Mosaic refusing to pay for essential repairs such as a re-wire of entire flat (paid for by the tenant)
Three separate private companies insisting on scaffolding this house three times for small repair jobs.
Six months to repair a waste pipe from a bath.
No contact information or direct management of work, no assessment of repairs, no inspection of finished work.
Secretaries hanging up on tenants trying to get work attended to.
Mosaic totally abandoning cyclical repairs.
Mosaic losing stock condition information from Savills after abandoning stock condition survey.
2 years to repair collapsed ceiling.
Call centre staff executing a policy of refusing to give contact information and refusing to give reasons for doing so. This is a management directive.
This has been going on for decades and Brendan Sarsfield’s Tenure as Director has seen this chaos in management actually get worse, as tenants we have no confidence in him.