Guest blog from Cllr Alison Hopkins
Some may have seen reported in the local paper that a house in Review Road
in my Dollis Hill ward was recently very badly damaged by fire. The occupants
are an elderly couple and their son. The house is uninhabitable, so they're all
homeless. And, they were uninsured, for reasons I won’t go into, so there's no
help from that quarter. The son is finding himself accommodation and is employed
part time, so will at least not be on the streets.
The parents, however, have far more serious problems. Their daughter lives
in Ireland with her own family, and came straight to London as soon as she heard
what had happened. She’s spent the past ten days trying to get help, initially
from Brent Council, and then contacted both Sarah Teather and me. She
called me Friday, distraught, as she’s had really minimal help from Brent.
Initially, they refused any help at all, as the parents “had an asset”, in the
shape of a burnt out house! She persuaded them to accommodate both parents and
son in a hostel till the 10th November, then spent all day Friday trying to
persuade Brent Housing to extend this. Asking for ID and proof of the fire when
everything has been lost was not the best reply she could have got. Brent
eventually agreed to extend the hostel until the 16th November, but this
obviously isn't any kind of solution: the house will have to be sold, as is, as
there’s no money to refurbish it. It’s uninhabitable, and the couple have
nowhere to go. A hostel is also not the best place for an elderly couple
in poor health.
I’ve rounded up some help from our community: Ashford Place will be meeting
the daughter tomorrow, I’ve asked if the local parish can help, contacted a
local business to see if anything can be done, and Daniels have offered to give
advice on the house sale issue. The father is ex RAF, so I’ve also suggested the
RAF Benevolent Association and the British Legion as possible help, plus the Red
Cross. There’s a lot of debris to clear, and I may have someone helping with
that.
I did manage to get hold of Brent’s Regeneration Director late Friday
night: his remit includes housing, and he’s promised to look into this
urgently. I will, as you may imagine, not let up on that.
In the meantime, though, HELP! The house needs a tarpaulin to stop more
rain damage. It needs clearing and rubbish removed – as I say, I may have
someone who can help on removal, but anything on that would be hugely
appreciated. . The couple need somewhere to live for the time being, which I
realise is a big ask, but can anyone help with that? Are there builders, or
handymen willing to do any kind of patch up? Or more! I know we’ve got a very
strong community here, and I think that we can work to help this couple.
In the longer term, they’ll need furniture and household goods, too.
Please contact me on cllr.alison.hopkins@brent.gov.uk
if you can help and/or have sources, or other ideas for resources we can call
on.
