Brent Council borrowed up to £110.5m for a property deal with Quintain Ltd, the Wembley Park developers, a proportion of which was to purchase Lexington Building in Wembley Park for key worker housing. LINK
Overnight the new build hit Twitter with reports of sewage flooding the apartments.
@KwajoHousing this is how Brent council treats key and emergency workers! They’ve said this is not a ‘high alert’ and haven’t taken this seriously at all. Residents homes are being flooded with waste and faeces. Contaminating and pouring out into their bedrooms and communal hall pic.twitter.com/2R5Kz8GLPF
— thatBP (@specialkamik) May 11, 2022
In a series of Tweets Brent Council responded today:
We are working urgently to fix the blocked drains at Lexington. The two affected flats and the communal areas will be deep cleaned, and we’ve found alternative accommodation for the tenant who has been directly affected in the meantime
As soon as we were alerted to the problem yesterday, we dispatched an engineer to make urgent repairs and to remove the blockage. Officers were on-site talking to residents all day and delivered letters to flats with advice about the communal areas that were affected.
When our engineers left yesterday, it appeared the issues had been resolved.
Overnight, residents reported another leak in the bathroom of a different flat – we dispatched emergency engineers as soon as possible, and officers have been at the building speaking to residents all morning.
We’re treating this matter very seriously, and are on hand to help anyone at Lexington who is affected
However, resident Emma Clark commented on the community website Next Door:
This issue was reported days ago and Brent left it till Monday just after we called LFB (London Fire Bridgea) because the 4th floor flooded the 3rd floor. They did a half job fixing the issue on Monday and the issue deteriorated so right now the 4th, 2nd, 1st and the ground floor is flooded. They didn't treat this as a matter of urgency till we called out the press. A child slept in the flat shown. Disabled residents and a disabled child are affected. Took Brent 3 days to start looking for an emergency accommodation. Initially they said it's not a health hazard. Not to mention they hoovered the carpets and called it a day. After being called out on social media they reevaluated and deemed it necessary to change the carpets an floor boards This morning we called emergency repairs and we been told to call back at 0800hrs 🤦🏻♀️ Many of us attempted to contact Dawn Butler with no luck. Cllr Iman came to our building to reassure us. https://www.itv.com/news/london/2022-05-11/blocked-toilet-sends-raw-sewage-pouring-through-council-flats
The purchase of Lexington Building was made via i4B Holdings a Brent Council owned company. LINK
i4B's brief for tenants:
About i4B Holdings
i4B is a company set up to help Brent Council provide affordable accommodation to reduce homelessness. The company's aim is to provide permanent, high quality housing with the hope that tenants enjoy their home year after year.
Expectations
What you can expect from us:
- Tenants of i4B can expect high quality homes at an affordable rent with a responsible landlord.
- Tenants can expect their properties to be repaired when issues arise.
- Tenants can expect their views and concerns to be listened to. If you have any concerns about your property, please contact your management agent.
What we expect from you:
- We expect tenants to report any repair needs and to provide access to workers to complete the repairs.
- We expect tenants to abide by the tenancy agreement, this includes respecting neighbours.
- We expect tenants to pay rent. If you are having difficulty with rent payments, please contact your management agents as early as possible.
This incident follows the Granville New Homes scandal on South Kilburn Estate when the bill for remediation of homes purchased by Brent Council from Higgins Homes exceeded the purchase price. LINK
