CROYDON IN CRISIS: The squalid conditions of homes in South Norwood has seen the council found to be in breach of 15-year-old regulations introduced to prevent people having to endure slum conditions.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
Hamida Ali: admitted the council was in breach of legal duties
The council has been found to be in breach of its duties as a landlord over the appalling conditions of flats in residential blocks in South Norwood.
Hamida Ali, the leader of the Labour-controlled council, told Monday’s cabinet meeting, “We have learned today that the Regulator for Social Housing have found us in breach.”
The Regulator oversees standards and regulations for landlords. Ali said that the Regulator will publish more information next week.
Homes in three residential tower blocks on Regina Road have been suffering from leaks, damp, mould and dangerous electrical wiring, with complaints to the council and its contractors, Axis, going back four years, according to an urgent investigation conducted by inddependent consultants last month.
The report was commissioned after the dreadful conditions were exposed in a series of television news reports.
Today, the Regulator confirmed that action was being taken against the council, but they said that they would not be commenting until they issue the formal, public notice.
An MHCLG spokesperson told Inside Croydon, “By law all landlords must ensure properties are fit for people to live in and all registered providers of social housing must meet standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing.
“This includes complying with the government’s Decent Homes Standard, which ensures properties are safe and decent.”
The Decent Homes Standard is a set of rules and regulations which were introduced in 2006, under the then Labour government, with the aim of reducing and eliminating slum conditions in the nation’s housing stock.
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