Dame Meg Hillier MP alerts Hackney Mayor to key worker Airbnb holiday home ‘scandal’
Dame Meg Hillier MP
Hackney South MP Dame Meg Hillier has told residents she is approaching Mayor Caroline Woodley about a ‘concerning situation’ involving the possibly fraudulent use of a home built for a disabled key worker.
The Citizen obtained a letter on Saturday written by Dame Hillier on 18 December to constituent Mary Pimm about a council-funded property intended for local key workers with mobility issues being used as a holiday home.
Ms Pimm, who is chair of the Victoria Park Community Association representing residents in Hackney and Tower Hamlets, alerted the Citizen to the “scandal” earlier this month after discovering that a bungalow-style home built by Peabody housing association on Morpeth Road had been listed on Airbnb.
“All we know so far is that a property intended for a key worker with disability problems, partly funded by money raised by the sale of council homes, is being let out as a holiday home to people who are neither key workers or disabled.
“One of our tenants in Victoria Park Road, a key worker with serious disability problems whose Victorian home is unsuitable for his needs, would have found this home ideal,” she said on 11 December.
Pictures seen by the Citizen visibly show a key lock box, which Ms Pimm said her local neighbourhood manager had informed her was not allowed.
The person who listed the home is a ‘Superhost’ named Hayme. Hayme has two other London lettings advertised on the site.
“We don’t know if the [hosts’ other flats] are owned by Peabody but since they have a gym and a 17th floor sky lounge this seems unlikely. The latest review was posted three days ago, so it is busy and she is making a lot of money out of it,” Ms Pimm added.
Peabody built the property alongside 11 others on Morpeth Road, with a £1.5 million contribution from the local authority funded by Right-to-Buy receipts.
A press release regarding the development on Peabody’s website states that all were “prioritised for local key workers at Hackney Living Rent rates, capped at just a third of median local household incomes”.
The same release quotes Cllr Guy Nicholson: “We should be proud of Hackney’s reputation as an award-winning builder of council houses. But as the demand for housing grows and the cost-of-living crisis hits, there’s a need to do even more to ensure more affordable, high-quality homes are built.”
Ms Pimm told the Citizen more recently that the housing association was “now clearly aware of the deception”.
The Citizen contacted the Town Hall to find out who was responsible for selecting the tenants from its housing waitlist, but the council has not yet clarified this.
Peabody last week was also asked what the processes were for selecting residents, whether this was followed for all properties, and when the housing association was made aware of the listing on Airbnb.
At the time of writing, the Citizen had only received a response confirming receipt of the query.
Dame Hillier’s letter explains that Mayor Woodley will reply to Ms Pimm “directly in due course and will either copy me into her response, or send a copy of her response to me”.
Shocking situation after so many people worked for years to get a good delopment for local key workers. How does it happen and is it council or Peabody who allocate the homes
As a local councillor for Victoria Ward, where this property is, I wrote to the Council on 6th December, after a resident kindly tipped me off that it was being let on AirBnb. At around the same time, the local residents' association wrote to Peabody to alert them about the situation. This was all several days before Meg Hillier wrote to the Mayor, and a couple of weeks before the Christmas holidays got underway. Yet as I write today on 2nd January, I see the listing for this holiday rental opportunity, in a brand new, specially adapted home built for key workers with mobility issues and funded partly with Council money, is still live on the AirBnb website. I have yet to hear anything back from the Council, but why are the various authorities are so slow to act – and meanwhile whoever is letting the bungalow has made £160 per night over the New Year period.
I know many properties that are owned by Notting hill genesis, allocated to elderly people who then leave them to family members. The Ha's do not care so long as rent is paid. This is misuse of public money abd benefit fraud.