Tenants hit back regarding 'serious failings' of Brent Council Housing management

The judgment of the Regulator of Social Housing on Brent Housing Management has not received as much pubicity as it deserved. Below residents from St Raphael's Estate and South Kilburn voice their concerns.

 

Letter to Kim Wright, Brent Council CEO:

Urgent Concerns Regarding the Safety and Condition of Homes on St. Raphael's Estate

Dear Kim

We, the residents of St. Raphael's Estate, are writing to express our profound and urgent concerns regarding the safety and overall condition of our homes. These concerns have been significantly heightened by the recent findings from Brent Council's self-referral to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH), which have brought to light serious inadequacies in the management of housing safety.

We understand that Brent Council proactively referred itself to the Regulator of Social Housing in April 2025, specifically concerning the quality and accuracy of its fire safety data. While we acknowledge the council's transparency in making this self-referral, the subsequent findings by the RSH are deeply troubling. The Regulator has issued a C3 grading, signifying "serious failings" in meeting consumer standards, particularly the Safety and Quality Standard, and has mandated "significant improvement."

Of particular alarm are the RSH's findings that:

Data for critical safety areas, including fire safety, smoke and carbon monoxide safety, asbestos management, and water safety, "could not be reconciled." This raises serious questions about the council's ability to accurately track and manage essential health and safety risks within its housing stock.

The council is currently "not able to determine which legally required checks and assessments have been completed," which is a fundamental requirement for ensuring tenant safety.

Despite the council reporting that it holds stock condition data for 95% of its properties, the RSH's engagement revealed that "almost half of its homes have not had a recorded survey." This significant gap means that the council lacks a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of the condition of a substantial portion of its housing, making it difficult to assure residents that their homes meet the required standards.

These deficiencies, as highlighted by the Regulator, have directly "negatively affected service outcomes for tenants." For residents of St. Raphael's Estate, this translates into real anxiety about the safety and structural integrity of our homes. The lack of reliable data and recent surveys creates an environment of uncertainty, undermining our confidence in the council's ability to fulfil its responsibilities as a landlord.

We acknowledge the public apology from Councillor Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, Cabinet Member for Housing and Resident Services, and her commitment that the council is "determined to improve the quality of council homes." However, we urge you to translate these words into swift and demonstrable action, particularly for estates like St. Raphael's.

 

We request a clear and comprehensive plan outlining the specific steps Brent Council will take to address these critical issues on St. Raphael's Estate, including:

Immediate verification and rectification of all outstanding fire, health, and safety actions for properties on our estate.

Expedited completion of recorded surveys for all homes on St. Raphael's Estate that currently lack them, ensuring a full and accurate understanding of their condition.

Improved communication channels with residents regarding ongoing safety works and the progress made in addressing the RSH's findings.

Assurance that robust data management systems are in place and functioning effectively to prevent similar issues in the future.

The safety and well-being of the residents of St. Raphael's Estate are paramount. We look forward to your prompt response and a clear commitment to resolving these serious concerns to ensure that all our homes are safe, decent, and well-maintained.

Yours sincerely,

Asif Zamir

 

Letter to Kilburn Times LINK from Pete Firmin, Chair, Alpha, Gorefield and Canterbury Tenants and Residents Association (South Kilburn)

 

I’m surprised 2 weeks have passed and you still haven’t published anything on the Regulator of Social Housings’ damning judgement on Brent Council. I would have thought this an important issue for a local paper to cover, especially as you have reported on individual cases of neglect by Brent in the past. This report shows that the problem goes much deeper than individual cases. Their report concludes “Our judgement is that there are serious failings in the landlord [i.e. Brent] delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and significant improvement is needed.”

 

Brent tries to excuse itself by pointing out it referred itself to the regulator, admitting failings. But Brent is itself unaware of the extent of its own failings. Or perhaps, as with so much else, in denial.  Council tenants are aware of these failings, so when Brent claims it carries out electrical checks in homes every 5 years, many tenants know this doesn’t happen. While tenants have annual gas checks, Brent carries out no checks on leaseholder dwellings in Council blocks, rather undermining the point of the checks which do happen. Council Officers not knowing the layout of buildings where they hold safety meetings doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

 

Around the same time, the Housing Ombudsman reported that complaints by social housing tenants about shabby repairs have risen by 474% over the last 5 years. While that figure is national, Brent tenants are all too familiar with that problem too. Delays and botched repairs are par for the course. Brent’s own surveys of satisfaction among tenants reflect this.

 

When Brent’s lead member for housing, Councillor Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, says “we will continue to work proactively, positively and in an open and transparent way with our residents and with the Regulator to fix the issues identified. Council tenants are at the heart of this improvement work through the new Housing Management Advisory Board. By listening to their experiences and ideas, we can make better decisions and build a housing service that residents can trust”, Council tenants are aware of how little openness and transparency there is in Brent housing, and how Council officers rarely work positively with tenants and their representatives, often the opposite.

 

While these reports vindicate what tenants have been saying for years, and Brent has denied, we would much prefer if Brent had got its act together in the first place. Brent has said it has new procedures in place to rectify the problems. We hope so, but excuse us if we don’t hold our breath, we have heard such claims many times before.

 

I, along with hundreds of others, took part in the Silent Walk for Grenfell on Saturday, 8 years after the terrible fire which killed 72 people. One of the many lessons of Grenfell is that the local authority did not listen to warnings from tenants and their representatives. A lesson that Brent should learn too.

 

Pete Firmin,

 

Chair, Alpha, Gorefield and Canterbury Tenants and Residents Association

Brent Council to pause delivery of social rent schemes on grounds of financial viability

In a statement on Brent Council's website today the Council announces that the July 28th Cabinet will pause the social housing programme:

Issue Details: New Council Homes Programme Update 

 

To agree to pause delivery of social rent schemes due to the financial viability of these projects. In addition, to delegate authority to the Corporate Director Neighbourhoods and Regeneration, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning and Property, to enter into a Deed of Variation for the GLA Affordable Housing Programme 2021,26 and agree pre-tender considerations and subsequent contract award for construction contracts relating to the delivery of the Edgware Road Scheme.

The announcement anticipates that information will be restricted  as 

'relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)'

The announcement is of particular significance for South Kilburn where the council has been seeking a single developer to complete the regeneration. Doubts have been raised whether any would take on the risk in the present climate without changing the expected tenure to include a larger proportion of private housing to make the project financially viable.

Today at Cabinet, Cllr Grahl, told her colleagues that Cllr Kelcher, Chair of Brent Planning Committee, would be pressing for 50%  of the proposed 1,000 homes on the Bridge Park -Unisys regeneration site to be affordable.

The slippery concept of 'affordable' has been much discussed on Wembley Matters  (See:  Call for Brent Council to deliver more council homes for social tenants and end confusion over their use of the term 'affordable')

Given the current housing crisis and doubts over shared ownership, leasehold problems and housing associations moving into the private market, the need is clearly for council homes. 

Will the Labour Government grasp the nettle with one of its own councils declaring the suspension of its social homes programme?

The Quarter 4 Borough Plan Dashboard shows just 26 new council homes completed:

 

Some Home Truths About the South Kilburn Regeneration for Brent Council and Developers to Ponder

 

Pete Firmin, South Kilburn resident and chair of a residents' and tenants' association, spoke at Kilburn Connects online meeting tonight about the poor quality of new housing on the estate, the dire amount of social housing and the experience of living though a regeneration that will not be completed until 2041.

A longer wait announced for completion of HS2 Canterbury Works in South Kilburn

 Apparently not so 'Upcoming' as advertised, according to the Enquirer:

Shaft and headhouse sites at Adelaide Road and Canterbury Works will remain on pause over the next two years while parts of the Euston drive including the station cavern, crossover tunnels, portal and scissor box are being rescheduled.

The Enquirer understands that suppliers and subcontractors were given the bad news by main contractor SCS JV on Friday. The Canterbury works will remain on pause for the next two years.

Two giant tunnelling machines have been assembled and are ready to dig the HS2 tunnel between Old Oak Common and London Euston after Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed funding for the project in last year’s budget.

A spokesperson for HS2 said: 

When HS2 opens, services will initially run between Birmingham and Old Oak Common in west London and this section of the railway remains the focus of our delivery.

Last autumn, the government confirmed that HS2 will be built to Euston and we are now preparing for construction of the tunnel from Old Oak Common. Construction on associated works including the tunnel shafts, headhouses and station approaches will start at a later date.

We are currently reviewing the whole HS2 programme as part of a major reset – making sure the building blocks of the scheme are in the correct sequence.

HS2 Upcoming works at Canterbury Works site, South Kilburn. Information events February 26th

 HS2 not over yet...

Video: Leslie Barson speaks on 'South Kilburn: Resistance and Community'

 

 

Leslie Barson, of Granville Community Kitchen in South Kilburn, a long-time community activist, spoke at the 'Unravelling Regeneration - Stories of a Community' Metroland Exhibition last month.

This is a first hand account of the impact of regeneration on the lives of local people and on the community resources that have supported them over the years.

South Kilburn: A story of resistance and community - Saturday January 25th - Kilburn Square

 

I popped into the exhibition this afternoon as I am not sure if I can make the talk tomorrow afternoon. The exhibition goes back as far as the slum clearances of the 1950s and tells the story of a strong community engaged in resistance to plans for their area which again and again have been imposed often with negative results.

1959 Willesden Corporations ets conditions for rehousing after slum clearance

1985 challenging the Council's public relations leaflet. If it wasn't for the typewritten copy printed on a Roneo or Gestetner printer the tenant's reply could have been written yesterday.

Leaflet against the infamous ballot on regeneration

In the middle of it all has been Granville Community  Kitchen fighting for and recording the loss of community assets. Empowering people through food!

 

The community spirit that refused to be silenced is clear in a range of photographs and event advertising.

 EXHIBITION DETAILS

Location: Metroland Studios, 91 Kilburn Sq, London NW6 6PS
(Behind Kilburn Market) off Kilburn High Road
 

Go down the alley next to Argos and you will see us across the square. Ring the bell to get in.

Saturday | 25 January 2025
Community Soup Session: 1-5pm

Talk: Regeneration History of South Kilburn: 12-3pm

Sunday | 26 January 2025
Workshop: Weaving Our South Kilburn: 2-3:30pm

South Kilburn: Capri Jiang: Unravelling Regeneration: Stories of a Community - Exhibition and Events

 

From Granville Community Kitchen

The hidden stories and voices behind South Kilburn’s regeneration programmes, exploring themes of displacement, resilience, and community activism. 

VENUE: 

Location: Metroland Studios, 91 Kilburn Sq, London NW6 6PS 

(Behind Kilburn Market) off Kilburn High Road

Go down the alley next to Argos and you will see us across the square. Ring the bell to get in.

Exhibition 22– 26 January 2025 12-5pm

Events:
Wednesday | 22 January 2025
Launch 6-8pm
Echoes of South Kilburn – Opening Performance: 6:30pm

Saturday | 25 January 2025
Community Soup Session: 1-5pm
Talk: Regeneration History of South Kilburn: 12-3pm

Sunday | 26 January 2025
Workshop: Weaving Our South Kilburn: 2-3:30pm

MetrolandCultures is pleased to host our neighbour and artist Capri Jiang to present work featuring a visual timeline of archives and an installation uncovering narratives of loss and resistance while inviting visitors to envision South Kilburn’s future together.

Communal spaces are essential for fostering connections and building a sense of community. Accessible and versatile community spaces play a crucial role in nurturing solidarity and resilience within neighbourhoods. However, over the past few decades, regeneration programs have resulted in the widespread loss of multipurpose spaces. This, coupled with rising rent, poor construction quality, and the uncertainty of future costs, has created a precarious environment for residents, forcing many to relocate and destabilising community life.

In response to these challenges, residents and organisations have mobilised to protest and resist the master plans driving this upheaval. This exhibition emerges from that context, shedding light on the untold stories of the community impacted by these regeneration programs. It highlights how individuals, organisations, and the collective community have been stripped of their voices, their right to adequate living spaces, and their ability to sustain a vibrant community spirit. At the same time, it showcases their resilience and efforts to fight back against these injustices.

Through this exhibition, you will explore the realities of the regeneration programme from the perspectives of individuals, organisations, and the urban landscape. The narrative unfolds through a visualised timeline of community archives and a woven cityscape installation. Visitors are invited to actively participate by contributing to the co-creation of a blueprint for the future of South Kilburn.

About Capri Jiang

Capri Jiang is a London based designer and researcher using design as a language to co-create with people. Capri is also the Project coordinator of Granville Community Kitchen – at the heart of its community in South Kilburn the kitchen is a place of repair, resilience, resistance and safety. GCK works within a healing justice framework with activities promoting the holistic repair and wellbeing of community. GCK’s activities respond to the needs of a diverse South Kilburn community, building resilience by building the capacity of people from marginalised groups, and challenges oppression, power and privilege.

https://granvillecommunitykitchen.org.uk

Zoë Garbett Green Assembly Member to London Mayor: You are ignoring the reality of estate regeneration

 This may resonate with South Kilburn residents:

Shortly after handing in a petition from residents of the Lesnes Estate for the Mayor to ‘call-in’ the proposed development, Zoë Garbett AM questioned the Mayor over his failure to acknowledge how much he has ignored the reality of Londoners suffering through the city’s ongoing estate regeneration.

Quoting lived experience of those residents from the Thamesmead estate, Zoë pointed to the real-life impacts of estate regeneration on individuals and communities across the city, drawing on their awful living conditions, uncertainty, and displacement.

Following the exchange, Green Party London Assembly Member Zoë Garbett said:

Estate regeneration is displacing Londoners, ripping communities apart with no accountability for the developers and landlords tasked with improving housing across our city. Refurbishment should always be the default option.

Estate regeneration can drag on for years, decades even. There are very few safeguards to make sure this doesn’t happen. It's a lottery – and the Mayor needs to listen to residents to prevent more councils, housing associations and developers embarking on more disastrous regeneration schemes.

My biggest thanks to the residents of the Lesnes Estate for showing me around their community, and for forcing this issue onto the Mayor’s desk before the crisis gets any further out of hand.

In response to the concerns raised, the Mayor said:

I’ll undertake today to get my Deputy for Housing to look into this issue, but also to work with you, Zoë, to try and ameliorate the circumstances [residents] are living under.

To view the full exchange, please click here

Vistry shares plunge after further profits warning. Will this impact on subsidiary Countryside's Brent developments?

An earlier deal

 

 Vistry, the parent of Countryside that is responsible for several housing developments in Brent. including in Northwick Park and South Kilburn, has issued its third annual profits warning in as many months. They now expect profits of £250m compared with £419m last year.

Today the share price fell by 16.2%  in half-day trading.

Countryside building for Sovereign Network Group in Northwick Park

 

The company said that it has dropped various deals because they were not 'sufficiently attractive'. There is speculation that this might mean that they will not bid for the 'single developer' role that Brent Council is seeking for the remainder of the South Kilburn Regeneration.  There may also be  knock-on effect on tenure of the developments currently underway when viability is reviewed.

Another South Kilburn disaster revealed - £15m claim on Swift House and George House goes to mediation

 

Before remediation work above and remediation work in progress below

 

 

A plaque amongst the remediation materials

Construction News LINK reports on another building disaster in South Kilburn. London and Quadrant (L&Q) had made a £15m claim against Bouygues UK and this will now go to mediation.

Swift House and George House in Albert Road were built by Denne Construction in 2010-11 at a cost of £35m.  Bouygues took over Denne's liabilities when it acquired the company in 2016.

Denne were also responsible for Bourne Place in South Kilburn.

Construction News reports L&Q's claim that both buildings (Swift House and George House) with a total of 286 flats and maisonettes were 'defective and dangerous' including use of the aluminium composite material (ACM) exposed by the Grenfell fire,

L & Q said that after they removed the cladding in September 2018 they found a number of other fire safety and structural issues including 'inadequately specified and wrongly installed insulation' that would have  allowed fire and smoke to penetrate the buildings. 

They also found over-stressing and movement of the cladding support frames across both buildings.

Construction News gives a full account in its story LINK.

As with Grenfell, residents have raised issues about the quality of building on South Kilburn over the last few years LINK, and Wembley Matters published an overview in May this year LINK.

Readers will recall the case of Granville New Homes purchased from the developer by Brent Council and cost more than the purchase price in remediation works LINK . The council had argued that it was not possible to get compensation for the defects but reportedly a claim may now be in prospect.

This now comes under the remit  of Muhammed Butt, who as well as being Council Leader  is also Cabinet Lead for Housing, Regeneration, Planning and Growth.

A South Kilburn resident, reacting to the latest debacle said:

Yet another example of shoddy building work being done during the regeneration of South Kilburn, A fact that Brent Council denies, instead repeatedly talking about the awards given by planners and architects to planners and architects for their brilliant work. I wonder how much compensation the builders are intending to pass to residents who have had to live with scaffolding blocking out their light for many years as well as the fear that goes with living in buildings which could go up like the Grenfell tower.

 

Shama Tatler ends her Brent Cabinet career speaking about the troubled South Kilburn Regeneration - video

Brent Council tries to stop South Kilburn regeneration from hitting the buffers via a single developer and more private homes

 

The map shows how many sites are still to be developed 20 years after the 2004 Masterplan.

 

The South Kilburn Regeneration began as a concept in the late 1990s, with the New Deal for Communities adopted in 2001.

The first South Kilburn Masterplan was approved on the 12th July 2004 so the project has been going for 20 years and completion may take at least another ten.

The Minutes of the 12th July Executive Meeting show that non-Executive members were concerned that the Masterplan had not gone to the Scrutiny Committee. LINK

Tomorrow's Cabinet starts at 10am and South Kilburn is Item 12 out of 15 items LINK. The meeting will be livestreamed HERE.

Cabinet will be asked to approve a new chapter with the council seeking a single developer rather than a multiplicity of developers for the sites that remain. They include Queens Park & Cullen House, William Dunbar House and William Saville House, Masefield House, Wordsworth House and Dickens House, Craik Court, Crone Court and Zangwill House, Hereford House and Exeter Court, Austin House and Blake Court and John Radcliffe House.  

The Cabinet are told that Early Pre-market Engagement has indicated interest from several companies to take on the very large task with attendant risks in the current climate. Economies of scale are cited as an advantage but there are still risks regarding viability

The regeneration programme is based on the cross-subsidy model where the receipts from market housing funds the delivery of affordable housing, social and public infrastructure.  It is however notable that the programme has up until now benefitted from rapidly rising sales values as regeneration improved the area, but the sales values are now flattening out. 

Meanwhile construction cost inflation has risen steeply and continues to remain high, this alongside the recent regulatory changes, specifically the second staircase, is putting viability under extreme pressures. Also, interest rate rises have affected both development market and purchaser demand. Affordability of the programme is expected to remain challenging and will need to be carefully monitored and robustly managed.

There are still tenants waiting to be rehoused on the estate in line with the Landlord Promise made by the Council that they would be rehoused on the estate. It appears that 164 will have to wait until after 2028:

933 tenants have been permanently rehoused in a new home in South Kilburn. Approximately 200 tenants have been permanently rehoused outside South Kilburn in a new build or an existing home around the borough in areas such as Harlesden, Willesden, Cricklewood, Willesden Green, Kensal Rise, Kensal Green, Brondesbury and Kilburn. 

 At time of writing there are 284 tenants across Austin, Blake, Dickens, Craik, Crone, Zangwill, John Radcliffe, William Dunbar and William Saville remaining to be rehoused. 120 of the 284 will have the opportunity to be rehoused between 2025 and 2028 in the developments under construction at NWCC, C&G and Peel. The rehousing team is working with tenants at Austin, Blake and Dickens as a priority for the next phase of rehousing as these blocks are in the poorest condition.

The report is franker that previously about the difficulties encountered, partly in support of the single developer proposal:

 In a small number of developments however residents have experienced disruptive build quality issues. At Granville New Homes, Franklin, Chase and Hollister House, there have been issues with water leakage, supply of hot water and heating, poor workmanship and use of poor-quality material. Elsewhere, at Merle Court and George and Swift House fire safety issues with cladding has required significant remediation works.  

Multiplicity of landlords and managing agents arising from the site-by-site development model is also reflected in the inconsistent and variable standards of management and maintenance of the public realm across the neighbourhood and sometimes on opposite sides of the street. This inconsistent approach has marred the community's experience of living, working and visiting South Kilburn.  

Parts of South Kilburn have a concentration of sites at various stages of redevelopment - sites which are hoarded up and under construction, sites which are part or fully vacant. There areas have been experiencing increased levels of anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping and squatting. Alongside this is the noise, dust, vibration, and traffic disruption arising from the construction itself.  

Whilst these are the inevitable consequences of large-scale, long-term regeneration programmes, it presents significant disruption to the day-to-day experience of residents and erodes their sense of safety, community and ownership.

21. The delivery programme as set out in the 2016 Masterplan review has been delayed due to economic and viability challenges and recent regulatory changes requiring extensive design amendments. Beyond the sites which are currently under construction there is no future pipeline of new homes. For residents (tenants and leaseholders) remaining in the existing blocks the uncertainty of not knowing when and where they are going to move is frustrating, particularly for residents living in overcrowded and poor quality homes.

For viability there will be an increase in the private homes quota as well as an increase in densification.

According to the 2016 Masterplan, the remaining sites can provide a further 1,400 homes. An initial review of the Masterplan has indicated that there are opportunities for optimisation, densification to deliver more housing The remainder of programme will include a higher percentage of private housing to re- balance the overall distribution of housing tenure and front loading of affordable homes provision in the earlier phases of the programme. The level of private housing will be critical to the viability of future phases.

 

There is never much discussion, and certainly not debate, at Cabinet - that is all done in private with officers at a private pre-Cabinet meeting, so this complex and risky proposal is likely to go through in a few minutes. It is important that Scrutiny Commitee (unlike in 2005) considers it at the appropriate time.

 

No sole developer yet for South Kilburn as number of social homes set to reduce

 

 

South Kilburn Masterplan (The Guardian)

 

Guest post by a South Kilburn resident

Report of South Kilburn Regeneration meeting held on the 18th September 2024.

 

The council announced that they have not appointed a sole developer yet for all the remaining sites of the South Kilburn Regeneration programne.

Currently there are  3 sites being developed with:

(1) 46 social homes for rent out of a total of 328 homes at The Peel site 

(2) 72 social homes for rent out of a total of 209 at the NWCC`sit

(3) 18 homes for social rent at the Granville/Carton site but I do not know the total number of remaining homes.

 

(NWCC is Neville, Winstanley, the Carlton Centre and some of Carlton House).

The South Kilburn Promise was to provide a 50\50 ratio of social homes to other tenures but at these 3 sites the numbers of social homes has fallen way below the 50% ratio.  Also the overall aim of the South Kilburn regeneration is to increase the number of social homes in South Kilburn by 800 by the end of the programm but this target may not be achieved either.

The next site to be developed will be The Hereford & Exeter site but not until 2026 as the council are still discussing with the GLA over funding issues and it would also need the sole developer to be appointed to develop the site.`

All the remaining sites are waiting to go to planning with the next one being The CCZ site being submitted in 2025. (CCZ is Craik, Crone & Zangwill House.)

Finally, there are still 284 tenants waiting for a new home in South Kilburn.

The council also reported on anti- social behaviour issues at Unity Place which only opened in 2019. They have appointed two Block Champions to monitor Unity Place, which has over 300 tenants and leaseholders living there.

Before the first Masterplan was published in 2004 the council said that developing the South Kilburn estate would eradicate all the anti-social behavour elements living there at the time. Something seems to have gone wrong as antisocial behaviour issues are rampant across the estate.

Appointing unpaid tenants as Block Champions to deal with all the issues affecting South Kilburn blocks  will not solve the problem and what we need is more police to visit the estate, along with council safety teams on a regular basis.