Over the past few weeks, leaseholders from Windsor Mews, Sutton Coldfield, have acted against their housing association, Sanctuary. This follows from numerous complaints made for several years regarding the housing association’s alleged incompetence in caring for their residents. ACORN, a union that represents tenants, recently organised the residents to take action.
It started with a demonstration held at Sutton Coldfield’s Town Council meeting on 10 February, where residents addressed councillors on the issues they claimed to face in their homes. Sanctuary are one of the largest housing associations in the UK, managing around 125,000 units of accommodation, according to their website.
Sanctuary was approached for comment; you can find their response at the end of this article.
Sutton Coldfield residents describe appalling conditions
One resident, Anne, told the council that she had been living on her property for over 10 years and has paid over £18,000 to Sanctuary, which had “done nothing to her property in that time”.
Anne continued: “With that £18,000 I could have enlisted a reputable company, had all my repairs done. The longer I stop here, the repairs are increasing. I should be enjoying my retirement, but I can’t because of all the stress and worry.
“The buildings and grounds are constantly deteriorating because of bad repairs and a lack of upkeep by the landlord, Sanctuary Housing.”
Sylvia is another resident, who said that there were “dead rats” in her loft. According to her, the rats were given poison and died in January, but she has been forced to deal with flies. “14 days I have been killing flies”, she said, adding that two men from Sanctuary who were meant to deal with the issue “stared for 15 minutes” and left. She told the council that she has spent three weeks waiting for pest control.
“I’ve lived in the property just over three years”, said Emma, another resident, “and deeply regret my decision to move there”. She added that roots had grown across her garden, covering drains, and appeared at the front of the property. She was not able to flush the toilet properly, which meant “I had to use a bucket in my bedroom”.
When people arrived to deal with her issue, they told her that “it was nothing to do with them” because “where the drain is the landlord’s responsibility”. “I have a gut feeling they’re hoping we all die”, she said. “They’re hoping that none of them sell, and they’ll take them down and put another sort of development up.”
Sanctuary condemned by town councillors
Town council leader Simon Ward said at the meeting: “I don’t think I’ve had anything like this in the 10 years I’ve worked here.
“It’s not much to ask to allow you to live a decent life in places that you’ve chosen. It’s absolutely heartrending to hear some of the things that you’ve had to experience.”
Windsor Mews, which contains 42 residences, is in Sutton Trinity Ward, where David Pears is councillor. He said at the meeting: “It really is deplorable, and I think it’s terrible, it’s caused undue stress for all of you.
“Now, this is a bigger issue than just one or two houses, it’s happening across you all. And I bet my bottom dollar, you’re not the only people who are suffering as a result of Sanctuary in the way they do things.”
Demonstration outside Sanctuary’s head office
What followed was another demonstration down inside Sanctuary’s head office in Worcester on 23 March, involving nine residents and three members of ACORN. Milo, one of the ACORN organisers, said at a union meeting that they were “terrified”, sending three of their “highest paid directors” to mediate.
The officials, according to ACORN members, included Director of Independent Living Schemes Jen Tennant Foster, Director of Housing and Customer Services Kathryn Fox-Rogers, and Chief of Customer Services Lizzie Hieron.
Ben Auton, an ACORN member, said they had a “very productive meeting”, adding that Sanctuary apologised to the residents. They were also “briefly” joined by Cllr Neil Laurenson of St Stephen Ward in Worcester.
Sanctuary officials consult leaseholders in Sutton Coldfield
This protest was celebrated at an ACORN meeting held in Birmingham on 25 February. According to ACORN, 18 residents from Windsor Mews joined the union. The campaign was also backed by five councillors and Sutton Coldfield’s MP, Andrew Mitchell.
Sutton Coldfield Town Council allowed officials from Sanctuary to meet with residents at the town’s Methodist church on 2 March. A few dozen residents joined, with members of Sutton Coldfield Town Council, Cllr David Pears and the council’s CEO Olive O’Sullivan. Around five officials were from Sanctuary, including Jen Tennant Foster, Area Manager Sianne Fellows, and Housing Services Director Ian Hawarth.
O’Sullivan said the meeting concerned “resetting the relationship” between Sanctuary and the Windsor Mews residents.
Residents brought up their issues with Sanctuary officials, providing lists of all the issues they have in their homes. It was said by the residents that they stopped going to meetings with officials from Sanctuary as their complaints were never followed on.
Hawarth responded to the issues residents had with staff members, saying: “For all of you here now, I am telling you clearly and categorically that it’s not acceptable and that is not how we would want to work. The team are here to help.”
Tennant Foster told residents: “We’ll look at your individual repairs issues, and I think some of those issues are covered by the Section 20.”
Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1995 states that any repairs for leaseholders’ residences over £250 count as “major works”, and require consultation between the tenants and the landlord. It was estimated by Hawarth that it would possibly cost £10,000 for repairs.
Afterwards, Sanctuary officials spoke to residents individually about their issues. It was said work could begin within three to six months.
Mixed feelings from leaseholders
“I’m broadly confident and I think we’ve made good progress today”, said Auton. “I think it’s brilliant to have Sutton Coldfield Town Council behind us as well as councillors from Worcester City Council.”
“Well, we’ve made some progress, but there’s still a ways to go. We’ll see how it pans out”, said resident Sallie Morgan in an interview.
Regarding comments from Sanctuary officials, Morgan added, “I’ll believe it when I see it. They don’t care about old people, they care about their standing in the world compared to MPs and people like that”.
When interviewed, Milo said: “I think the campaign in general has set the precedent that they actually need to listen to leaseholders now. They can ignore one individual, they can’t ignore 18 people.” He also added that he spoke to “several Sanctuary staff” who said they were “dissatisfied with conditions of Sanctuary. And they have not been able to unionise because Sanctuary refuses to deal with them”.
It was agreed at the Methodist Church that a further meeting would be held on 8 June.
A spokesperson for Sanctuary said: “We are committed to working with residents from Windsor Mews – and their representatives – and have made excellent, positive progress over the past few weeks. We will continue to liaise closely with them to address all the concerns raised and will ensure that regular updates are provided as work is completed.”
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