Out and about with Carol - July 2024

At the end of July I donned my sensible shoes again (to be fair that is pretty much all the time these days) and set off to have a look round and meet some of our residents at Drummond St, Longford St and Osnaburgh St, just to the west of Euston station and very close to the ongoing HS2 works in the area.

With me were the Neighbourhood Manager, Bujar Shehu, the Estate Services Manager Jonathan Kirk, Caretaker (and part of our bulk refuse team) Chris O’Connor, Interim Head of Assets Andrew Sutton, Board member Paul Nourse and Loretta Moore, property manager for Rendall and Ritner (one of the three managing agents who manage these blocks).

These homes were developed by British Land over 10 years ago and were purchased as affordable housing by Origin, providing 160 rented homes – mainly 1 and 2 bedroom flats, but also including just under 40 homes with 3 or more bedrooms.

We were joined on site for our walkabout by several longstanding residents who clearly love their homes and the community that has been built, with many neighbours readily looking out for each other. Despite their frustrations with issues not being having been addressed, they were keen to work with us and the managing agents to put right the things that aren’t as they should be.

Fresh in people’s minds was a recent incident involving a serious threat of violence to one of the residents from a neighbour, as well as theft from a visiting non resident. This was frightening and unsettling for everyone. The Neighbourhood Manager had acted swiftly to secure temporary accommodation for the resident who was a victim and to gain an emergency injunction against the perpetrator. The next step was to liaise with the Police to ensure support for the victim and ask them to arrange some reassurance visits to neighbours. After that, there will need to be a longer term solution that keeps everyone feeling safe and secure in their homes.  

In addition to these concerns, residents pointed out smashed glazing in two of the main security doors, and several locks and door entry systems throughout the common areas that have been in need of repair for a long time, as well as a persistent leak into a basement bin store and communal hallway, a non operational communal Sky dish and people routinely loitering in the car park areas.

It was evident that the respective responsibilities of Origin and the three managing agents was either not clear or understood and this was causing confusion and adding to delays, so we agreed that it was vital to get these responsibilities, contact points and escalation routes for complaints set out and communicated to everyone and to develop a more joined up approach to managing the estate.

Residents also talked about the long delays in fixing balcony doors and windows, which had arisen because regular maintenance hadn’t been taking place and was difficult to resolve because of the need to locate the appropriate parts. Finally, having at one point concluded there would be a need to replace the windows and doors completely, the parts were sourced and repairs are underway with three quarters of reported issues now resolved. It was agreed however that post works quality checks would be needed.

Yet again, this visit and these conversations underlined that fact that our residents really are the experts in their homes and need to be listened to inform priorities for improvement and in finding sustainable solutions.

Carol Carter, Chief Executive