LETTER: Brent Council is failing South Kilburn residents who are living in fear in with damp, mould, cold and debt

 Video created from photographs provided by the letter writer

 

I reported on last week’s Brent Renters meeting calling on Brent Council to take action on bad landlords, but what happens when it is the council itself that is the bad landlord?  Wembley Matters has received this letter.

 

Dear Editor,

 

South Kilburn is a lively and friendly community.

 

My neighbours are quiet but ever so respectful.

 

We look out for one another.

 

With a predominantly Black and African community the English language is not the first language of most residents however, it does not create a barrier.

 

In fact, it sometimes draws people together in support for each other, whether it be housing, schooling, benefits, or young people’s needs. We support each other where we can.

 

There is a great deal of deprivation and poverty.

 

With many temporary tenants living in council properties and being charged £440pw, the cost of living crisis, is nothing new to them. Many of them have been living in such conditions for 9+ years, hardly temporary?

 

They were promised that, should they vote for the regeneration bid, upon its succession, they would be placed in new-build properties with a choice of paint colour, kitchen fittings, flooring, and new white goods, some even a dish washer!

 

However, this has not been the case. The council carried out housing needs assessments for every individual to gain knowledge of exactly what was needed but, they failed to deliver many of their promises and continue to do so.

 

Many tenants have been forced to move to new areas outside South Kilburn despite being promised they could stay.

 

Not enough new-builds and not enough of the required bedroom sizes!

 

But didn’t the council carry out assessments? Yes they did?

 

What happened to the planning and the order of blocks to be-rehoused? After the succession of the bid, it all changed – it all fell apart and promises were broken.

 

So, the people moving to new-builds received the promises of flooring and paint etc. However, the others forced to take re-lets are being failed.

 

They must move urgently- within 1 week, to properties with no flooring down, an empty shell.

 

Where are they supposed to find the money to start all over again?

 

There are disruption payments to be had according to the council yet, many are refused and if they are lucky enough to be chosen to receive it, they must wait up to 3 months to receive it!

 

Some are reimbursed for their flooring and white goods, some even for their curtains but some are not, with the council picking and choosing who can and can not be reimbursed. It this discrimination?

 

But Countryside and the Mayor’s office are providing the council with this money to take care of the tenants. If it’s not going to tenants, where is it going?

 

They are not even following their own promises and despite the tenants complaining to heads of departments, they are simply passed from pillar to post with no answer.

 

The council have no fear of breaking the law as the tenants have no-one fighting for them. Even MP Tulip Siddiq is doing nothing to assist vulnerable tenants.

 

Is it because Labour can not fight itself?

 

The electricity bills in the blocks are huge and the saddest part is, regardless of how much they do spend on heating, the properties are ice cold.

 

The health risks to tenants living in damp and mould riddled flats are at an all time high.

 

One of the residents, a mother of 4 and 3 asthmatics had pneumonia three times in one winter and the year before 2 pneumonia and sepsis. Still, she was afraid to put the heating on because she could not afford the bills and was falling deeper and deeper into utility debt. How could she find a way to clear it when all avenues seemed to be closed?

 

They are left in thousands of pounds worth of debt because of the electricity bills. The properties are insufficient, no insulation and ineffective heating units.

 

Go and earn more money you say?

 

With the majority of residents having at least one person working, it’s impossible to up your income.

 

Why? As the wage increases the more hours you work, the council simply reduce the Housing Benefit top-up that is essential to pay the £440pw rent. They trap you into the Benefits system with no hope of getting out unless you become secure tenants paying council rents.

 

The more you earn, the less Housing Benefit you receive and the family’s chance of living better is diminished.

 

We have hard working families paying £440pw rent and £1000/£2000 pm electricity! That’s without council tax, water, food etc

 

What happens then?  The children suffer. Less food on the table, freezing cold mould and damp living conditions, parents constantly stressed because they can’t make ends meet and provide even essentials for their children or themselves.

 

No talks of holidays, new clothes, toys or even a day out!

 

We have knife, gun and gang crime around every corner - but it’s the norm.

 

The last three to four months have taken a turn for the worst, become more dangerous due to the high number of squatters living in the blocks.

 

All night long it’s screaming, fighting, cursing and break-ins.

 

Parents and children are fearful to step into the blocks and afraid to open their front door! Cannabis farms growing, pipes and boilers being stolen and sold for money resulting in tenants homes being flooded and their few positions ruined.

 

Whilst we are fearful, we are concerned with the amount of squatters who have nowhere to turn. They run their own rings, charging other squatters to live in abandoned houses in the blocks. When they can’t pay up, they beat them up and throw them out. It’s horrifying, the wails and screams, the sounds of blows to the bodies of desperate and destitute men and women.

 

Prostitution, it’s also included in the list, men coming and going all night because the women are being pimped out and beaten.

 

The council put two security guards outside for four days. Whilst they are in their car with no toilet or place to get a warm drink, the squatters are upstairs in the blocks and there’s no change.

 

Then we have the schools, they seem to run the same ethos as Brent Council, ignore complaints and carry-on?

 

Despite receiving petitions and concerns of safeguarding from parents, they simply choose to ignore it. The governors simply refuse to hold meetings with parents?

 

They take the case to Brent education and the same response?

 

They take it to Ofsted who agree based on information received, it needs to be investigated.  Ofsted write to Brent Council and raise concerns requesting investigation and Brent reply to Ofsted with ... No further investigation needed!!

 

What do we expect to produce in South Kilburn?

 

The next generation thriving and positively optimistic about a bright future?

 

Where would they ever get this impression from when all they see is doom and gloom?

 

Parents working hard but never having enough.

 

Parents, that when chidlren look at them, their faces are etched with pain and struggle.

 

From where are the young people given hope and is it the faults of the parents, or the people with whom the responsibilities and power is given to make a change?

 

Poor housing, poor  schools and poor finances.

 

No opportunities to thrive yet still, you see the smiling friendly faces of the South Kilburn tenants toward each other, while secretly, their hearts and hopes are broken.

 

I love living in South Kilburn, the residents are very special people who deserve more.

 

Ngozi Gemma Ijanboh

 

The Brent Council Promise in 2019